CM inaugurates ‘Khapal Kor Village’ in Swat

MINGORA: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Saturday inaugurated the newly established “Khapal Kor Village” for orphans and destitute children.

Excellent and magnificent arrangements of free education and accommodation have been made in “Khpal Kor Village”, which has been completed at a cost of Rs50m.

Hundreds of children have been accommodated in the said village at the moment. The chief minister, during the visit, also opened the newly-constructed building of District Jail, Swat, which has been completed at a cost of Rs700 million.

Besides, separate blocks for children and women prisoners, facilities of free education and medical treatments are also available in the newly established District Jail, Swat. A Technical and Vocational Training Centre and a Rehabilitation Centre for Drug Addicts have also been established within the jail. The chief minister also distributed cheques of monthly stipend amongst Aaima Masajid on the occasion.

Addressing the elite on the occasion, the chief minister said that sustainable development of the whole province was the agenda of his government. “As chief minister of the province, I am committed to the uniform development of all the districts,” he said, adding they were facing multiple challenges and problems in different sectors due to lack of long-term planning in the past.

He made it clear that his government had prepared a 30 to 40 years plan for all the sectors with special focus on the health and education sector. Similarly, he added, that the government was working to put the other sectors of social services on the path to development in accordance with the needs of the modern era.

The ultimate purpose of all the efforts was to improve the service delivery system and to resolve the issues of the common man in the province, he added. Mahmood Khan said Prime Minister Imran Khan was committed to the development of Malakand division and steps were being taken for the development of the militancy-hit region.

Efforts were underway to make Malakand Division a hub of tourists and business activities, he said.

“The tourism is the backbone of the economy in Malakand division and the government is working under an integrated strategy to promote tourism in the region,” he added. He said that work on multiple projects was in progress to provide health and education facilities to people of Malakand division at their doorsteps.

“The people will see a significant improvement and change in these sectors upon completion of these projects,” he added. The chief minister said that the ground-breaking of Swat Motorway Phase-II would be performed very soon. “Swat Motorway Phase-II is of vital importance to address the issue of traffic in the urban areas of the district,” he said.

The chief minister assured that all the grievances of local people would be addressed while constructing the Swat Motorway Phase-II and there would be no harm to local population and agricultural land as well.

Moreover, he said that a master plan was being prepared to resolve the issue of vehicular traffic in divisional headquarters, Mingora.

Similarly, he said that a project was also in progress to resolve the long-standing issue of clean drinking water in Mingora. The chief minister said that the projects worth billions of rupees were approved to utilise the potential of hydropower in Swat and other districts. Completion of these projects would not only enhance power production but would also be helpful in creating employment opportunities, he added.