Airport in Mansehra: MNA asks govt to release payment to land owners

MANSEHRA: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Member National Assembly (MNA) Mohammad Sajjad has asked the federal government to release the payment for the land acquired by it for the airport in Tanawal area of the district.

“The federal government should compensate the residents whose land is acquired for the airport, or else people will be left with no other option but to stage protests,” Mohammad Sajjad told reporters here on Friday.

The MNA said the federal government wanted to scrap airport project launched in Mansehra to facilitate the companies working on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and people from across Hazara division. “We will not allow the PTI government to abandon this mega project, which besides catering to air travel services would also provide employment to people in a large number,” he added. Sajjad, who is the elder brother of ex-MNA captain (Retd) Mohammad Safdar, the son-in-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, said that his younger brother had also moved a resolution in the National Assembly last year seeking payments of land acquired for the airport.“If the government moves ahead with its plan to abandon this airport project, I would take up this issue at the floor of the National Assembly,” he added.

Also in the day, the residents, whose land was acquired for the airport, threatened to block Karakoram Highway to traffic if the government didn’t pay them the price of their land.