CHAKDARA/MINGORA: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that Pakistan was not created to make the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Zardari rich. He said the Sharif and Zardari families looted the country for 30 years.
Addressing a gathering at the Malakand University after inaugurating the new Academic Block and Examination Centre, the prime minister argued that Pakistan did not come into being to see the Sharif and Zardari families amassing wealth while the poor people suffered. According to Geo News, the premier said he curses such money for which the parents as well as their children are telling lies and going to jail and hospital.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Federal Minister for Communication Murad Saeed, Member National Assembly Junaid Akbar, Member KP Assembly Shakil Khan, University of Malakand Vice-Chancellor Dr Gul Zaman and others were also present on the occasion. Imran Khan said that the Al-Qadir University would be opened in December, adding that the Namal University would be made Pakistan’s Oxford University.
Imran Khan recalled that when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came into power, the country was about to go bankrupt, but the friendly countries extended financial help to save Pakistan. He maintained that unprecedented circumstances would have hit the country if Pakistan had gone bankrupt. The prime minister said his government returned Rs3,500 billion in the last two and a half years in loan repayments. In comparison, he claimed that the previous Pakistan PML-N government paid off Rs20,000 billion in the same period. He said that Pakistan could not spend enough money on health, education and other sectors after making the loan repayments.
The premier said big investors are prepared to invest in Bundal Island, but the PPP government in Sindh is not granting permission in this regard. The prime minister felt that the solution to Pakistan’s woes was to create more wealth through industrialisation. He said that promoting tourism could also generate a lot of revenue for the country if proper steps were taken. He added that though domestic tourism had increased, there was a dire need to attract foreign tourists to the country. He pointed out that Switzerland earned about 60 to 80 billion dollars from tourism, while Pakistan generated one million dollars only. He said his government was also paying attention to the agriculture sector in order to boost the yield of crops and make Pakistan self-sufficient in food.
Imran Khan said that dams were being built to store water for irrigation purposes and to bring the barren land under cultivation. He added that the government was also giving incentives to the construction industry to provide affordable housing to the people.
The prime minister also inaugurated the Swat Expressway which has three tunnels. It would facilitate the people of Malakand, Chitral, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Swat, Shangla and Bajaur districts and provide easy access to the tourism spots in Kalam and Kumrat valleys. He unveiled the plaque on the occasion to mark the inauguration and also inspected the completed tunnels.
On his arrival at Zulam Kot in Malakand district, the prime minister was received by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Director General of Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) Major General Kamal Azfar.
Briefing the prime minister, the FWO DG said the 80-kilometre long Swat Motorway had seven interchanges and three tunnels with length of 1,266, 271 and 324 meters. He presented a 3-D model of Swat Motorway to the prime minister. The FWO has built the Swat Motorway and will manage it and the toll plazas.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has constructed Pakistan’s first provincial motorway from its own resources. The Swat Motorway has reduced journey time for commuters, especially tourists and traders, and will help promote tourism and commerce.
The Swat Motorway starts from the Karnal Sher Interchange in Swabi district on the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway and ends at Chakdara in Lower Dir district after passing through Mardan and Malakand districts. It has provided an alternate and quicker route than the narrow Malakand Pass. Former KP chief minister Pervaiz Khattak had performed its ground-breaking on August 25, 2016.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan discussed legal and constitutional matters with the Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan in the federal capital.
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