ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that his political opponents and mafia want to topple his government because they are scared if he succeeds, it will be their “political death.”
The prime minister said this while addressing the virtual groundbreaking ceremony of 103 kilometres long Naukundi-Mashkhel road to enhance connectivity in Balochistan.
He said that all mafias are trying to blackmail the government to get immunity or NRO, but he is determined to bring them all under the law.
The premier, while recalling the 2018 general elections, said that his opponents had predicted that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf would face defeat in the polls. “But we secured the two-thirds majority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to our performance and our opponents are wary of the same results in the upcoming elections at the national level,” he maintained.
Talking about his vision of governance, PM Imran said that he wants rule of law and to help the downtrodden. He said that no society can progress without upholding rule of law. In the days to come, he added, his government will unveil another welfare initiative under which the poor segment of society will be given direct subsidy on food, electricity and other essential items.
The prime minister said that the Naukundi-Mashkhel road will be a great facility to the scattered population of Balochistan. He said that this project is of great importance for the development and future of Balochistan and to strengthen the federation of Pakistan.
He said, “We can massively benefit from the natural resources by connecting Balochistan with other parts of the country.” The prime minister said that massive road infrastructure will be built in Balochistan during the tenure of his government.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Communication Murad Saeed said that completion of this road would help promote economic activities in the area. He said that following Prime Minister Imran’s vision of austerity, the National Highway Authority would soon become a self-sustainable institution. He said during PTI’s tenure, the authority’s revenue increased by 105 percent.
He said that Rs20 billion were accumulated in various recoveries, Rs1 billion saved through austerity drive while land worth Rs460 billion was also recovered.
The minister said that road infrastructure projects are being launched in the less developed areas of the country to bring them at par with other developed areas. He said that a network of roads is being laid down across the country through public-private partnerships and under a new vision.
He said that areas near the GT Road would be connected to the motorway network through Sialkot-Kharian and Kharian-Rawalpindi motorways, to be launched this year. He said, “During our tenure, we constructed around 1,753km of roads that created more than one hundred and thousand jobs in the country while planning for other 6,100km of roads has also been completed.”
It is pertinent to mention that the Naukundi-Mashkhel road project will be completed in two years and help generate direct and indirect job opportunities for about four thousand people. Areas adjacent to the Naukundi-Maskhel section in Balochistan will greatly benefit from the construction of this road as it will provide them easy access to the Iranian border in less time. This will promote local trade especially that of dates which will mark a new beginning in the socio-economic development of these areas.
MASTER PLANS FOR BIG CITIES:
Separately, Prime Minister Imran has directed to formulate master plans for big cities of the country immediately to avoid growing environmental issues.
The prime minister issued this directive while chairing a weekly meeting of the National Coordination Committee for Housing, Construction and Development on Thursday.
The prime minister said that rising unorganised and unplanned urbanisation is not only a threat to the environment but also creating food security issues. He also directed that the protection of green areas should be considered as a national emergency as green Pakistan is essential for future generations and to provide them a healthy environment.
PM Imran instructed to immediately formulate rules and regulations in utilising the land and implementation strategy. He also directed to engage the general public to protect green areas.
The prime minister tasked the finance minister with providing easy and low-interest loans to the weaker segments of society enabling them to build their own houses.
The meeting also decided to amend the existing laws regarding utilisation of agricultural, residential and other lands for the protection of green areas. It also decided that the Green Building Code prepared by the Ministry of Climate Change will be implemented in the Naya Pakistan Housing scheme as a pilot project.
Meanwhile, the premier emphasised the timely completion of Ravi City and Central Business District projects to boost economic activities and create employment opportunities in the country.
Chairing a review meeting on Ravi Urban Development and Central Business District projects on Thursday, he said that these major projects will also reduce the increasing population pressure in the city enabling the metropolitan administration to provide residential facilities on modern standards to the general public.
The meeting was briefed in detail on the progress on the Sapphire-Bay, the first phase of the upcoming Ravi City project. It was informed that the government will receive estimated Rs25 billion revenue from this 2,000-acre land project.
It was informed that the project will generate a total of 150 billion rupees in economic activities and two more Ravi City sub-projects including Zones 4, 5, 7, and LB Island will soon be available for investment and the government from these projects will receive expectedly 130 billion rupees.
The prime minister was informed that the RAVI City project on 15,000 acres of land will result in economic activity of Rs1,000 billion by December this year which will provide abundant employment opportunities in the country.
The meeting was informed that three modern agricultural technology zones will be established in cooperation with a Swiss company in Ravi City to cope with the growing needs of food in the country. Besides, campuses of all leading universities of the country will be opened.
It was also informed that the Young Leadership Programme initiated to ensure participation of youth in the Ravi Urban project and so far 25,000 applications have been received in this regard and the first batch of young leaders will start its activities by June this year
