QWP leader flays PTI govt for shelving irrigation project

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) provincial Chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao on Thursday criticized the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for dropping the Chashma Lift Bank Canal project from the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

In a statement, he said that the provincial government had compromised on the rights of the province. “It is sheer injustice with the people of the southern districts that the project has been dropped from the PSDP,” he added. Sikandar Sherpao said that the irrigation project had been included in the PSDP after hectic efforts, but the KP government has deprived the people of the benefits of a mega project.

The QWP leader recalled that during his stint as the provincial minister for irrigation, he had got the project included in the PSDP during his meeting with the then finance minister Ishaq Dar.

He maintained that the federal and provincial governments were supposed to equally bear the cost of the project. “The provincial government has been unable to raise voice for the rights of the province,” he added.

Sikandar Sherpao said that the project was very crucial for the southern districts as on completion it would help irrigate hundreds of thousands of acre land there. “It is strange that the same party is in power at the Centre and in the province, but its leaders cannot secure the rights of the province,” he added. He threatened that his party would launch a protest movement if the rights of the provinces were usurped. The QWP leader added that the slogan of change was a ploy to reach the corridors of power as the PTI rulers have done nothing for the wellbeing of the people.