CM says new era of development begins in KP

Opens work on Swat Motorway; blasts Centre for ignoring KP

PESHAWAR/SWABI: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak Thursday said the mega development projects being launched by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government would usher in a new era of economic development and create employment opportunities.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Swat Motorway at the Kernal Sher Khan interchange on the Motorway, he said the federal government had ignored KP in the mega projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)..

Pervez Khattak said he had no expectations from the prime minister and federal government. “It is the first Motorway project launched by a provincial government and will bring revolutionary changes in the socio-economic activities in Malakand division, Nowshera, Mardan and Swabi districts,” he maintained.

He added that the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) would construct the 81-kilometer highway under Public-Private Partnership in 15 months.“Though the stipulated time period for the project completion is 18 months, the FWO has assured its completion in 15 months,” he informed.

Prominent among those present on the occasion were Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Engineer-in-Chief Lt Gen Khalid Asghar and FWO Director General Major General Mohammad Afzal, and elected representatives.

The chief minister said it was a project of Rs40 billion which include Rs5 billion for land purchase and Rs 35 billion for construction charges. He added that Rs 11.5 billion had been sanctioned for the project in current budget and another amount of Rs5.5 billion would be released next year while FWO would recover the remaining amount through toll collection in 25 years.

The motorway would be handed over to the FWO for 25 years for maintenance and toll collection so that its condition remains stable, he stated. “Ten thousand acre land had been acquired near Kernal Sher interchange for establishment of industrial zone under CPEC project,” he added.

He said next in line was the Rs32 billion Peshawar Metro bus project to be completed by December 2018. The government had also signed an agreement with a Chinese company for launching Metro Train project, he added.

The Rs 200 billion Metro Train would cover Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda and Nowshera, he said. added that the inter-district train service would only provide rapid transport facility to the people but reduce burden on roads and highways.

The chief minister said work on the Chashma Right bank canal would also be launched soon as it was already approved and for which 70 percent finances would be provided by the federal and 30 percent by the provincial government.

He added that the federal government had assured constructing the Peshawar-Dera Ismail Khan Expressway and railways track under CPEC projects.Earlier, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) head Sirajul Haq criticised the federal government for ignoring KP in uplift schemes.

He said KP had the potential of generating 41,000 megawatt hydel power but public exchequer was being spent on expensive plants run by coal and oil instead of hydel power plants.“It was astonishing that a coal operated power generation plant was being installed in Sahiwal to generate electricity at the rate of Rs 29 per unit against the cheapest hydel power of two rupee per unit,” he claimed.

He suggested developing Peshawar-Chitral-Shandur-Gilgit highway as alternate route of Karakoram Highway as it would not only be a safe route but would link Central Asian states via the Wakhan belt.

Akbar Ayub in his speech asked the federal government to launch work on Chakdara-Kalam and Chakdara-Chitral road or hand over these projects to the provincial government.FWO Director General Maj Gen M Afzal briefed the gathering on the Motorway project. He said the FWO would complete Swat Motorway before the stipulated time with no compromise on quality.

He explained that the 81-kilometer long and 80 meters wide motorway will have two tunnels of three kilometers and interchanges at Dhobian, Ismaila, Bakhshali, Katlang, Palai and Chakdara. Approximately 15,000 to 20,000 vehicles would pass on the motorway daily, he informed.