Ag APP
SUKKUR: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday unveiled a 446-billion-rupee uplift package for the underdeveloped areas of Sindh, as he urged the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) provincial government to review its cancellation of no-objection certificate (NOC) for the government’s Bundal island project.
The Prime Minister, while addressing a ceremony to hand over business loan cheques among young people, said he was pleased to be visiting rural Sindh — with glad tidings of a development package, “which otherwise is the responsibility of the provincial government under the 18th Amendment”
He said “interior Sindh”— a term that colloquially describes the rural regions of the province as opposed to Karachi and Hyderabad — was “the poorest area of the country on par with southern Balochistan and now the merged tribal districts”.
Khan said the people of interior Sindh were “living in difficult circumstances without basic facilities and rights” and were being “victimised by the police”. He also likened the development outlook of interior Sindh to Mohenjo-daro and said: “Instead of any advancement, the people are moving backwards.”
“Insha’Allah, we will assist in the uplift of backward areas of Pakistan honestly and trustfully. I am proud that we gave the first development package for southern Balochistan in Pakistan’s history. We also gave the biggest package for the now merged tribal areas which would be increased too… I again commit to my people in Sindh that I will try my utmost to improve their living conditions,” he said.
Referring to the Bundal Island project, the Prime Minister said the federal government had designed the project to attract $40 billion investment to help attract foreign exchange and strengthen the local currency.
He said: “But unfortunately, the Sindh government withdrew its no-objection certificate issued to federal government due to the unknown reasons. The people of Sindh would have been the biggest beneficiaries of the project and federal government had even offered the profits of the project to the province.”
He hoped the Sindh government would review its decision on NOC cancellation as the project would benefit the whole of Pakistan. The 446-billion-rupee development package he announced for Sindh consists of the restoration of 200,000 acres of land, upgrading of 14 passport offices, construction of the Nai Gaj Dam to irrigate around 28,800 acres of agricultural land, the 306-kilometre Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway, gas supply to 160 villages and annual 30,000 new power connections to deprived districts.
Federal ministers Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Dr Fehmida Mirza, Ali Zaidi, Asad Umar, Mohammad Mian Soomro, Special Assistant Dr Sania Nishtar, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Usman Dar accompanied the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister told the gathering that his government inherited the biggest debt burden. During last two-and-a-half-years, his government returned 35 trillion rupees in debt — 15 trillion more than the previous government.
He said the same 15 trillion rupees could have been spent on public welfare for the construction of roads, irrigation and infrastructure development to change the fate of the backward areas. He said it was essential to exploit the potential of 60 per cent under-30 population “to make an asset out of those who otherwise would become a liability”.
He said it was also equally essential to develop playgrounds for the youth to make them develop their talent. He said New Zealand, with a population of around six million, had more playgrounds than the 220-million-strong nation of Pakistan.