PPP leader blasts govt for abandoning uplift projects in Chitral

CHITRAL: Former provincial minister Salim Khan on Tuesday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had abandoned the ongoing development projects let alone initiating mega schemes in the Upper Chitral and Lower Chitral districts.

“Our both the districts are still faced with backwardness despite the eight years of the PTI government in the province,” he told a press conference here.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) local activists Engr Fazal Rabi Jan, Alamzeb advocate, Muhammad Hakim advocate, Qazi Faisal and others were also present.

Salim Khan, who is also PPP provincial deputy secretary information, said that work on the Garam Chashma and Bamburet roads had been stopped while the two districts of Chitral were excluded from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

He said that a number of other projects, including the approach road to Lowari Tunnel from the Chitral side, Garam Chashma and Bamburet roads, were abandoned.

He said that former president Asif Ali Zardai had included Chakdara-Chitral-Gilgit road in the CPEC project but Prime Minister Imran Khan gave the lollipop of Chitral-Shandur road and excluded Chitral from the mega project.

He said that it was ironic that the projects approved by the previous government including Chitral-Shandur road, Chitral-Garam Chashma road, Chitral-Ayun-Bamburet road and others were also put on the backburner and funds were not being provided by the present government let alone launching new projects in the area.

About the land settlement, the PPP leader said that their party had a clear stance on the issue, saying that all mountains, wastelands, jungles, pastures and riverbeds in Chitral had been registered in the names of local residents.

He said that declaring them the property of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was not acceptable to the people of Chitral.