D.I.KHAN: Jamiat Ulemai-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman on Monday said that development initiatives inaugurated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would herald an era of social and economic prosperity for the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Highlighting the significance of the geographical location of Dera Ismail Khan, he said it was linking all the provinces, adding it deserved such mega projects to make it an economic hub.
He expressed these views while addressing a ceremony where Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated a host of development initiatives for the southern districts of KP, especially Dera Ismail Khan.
He recalled that he had already said on several occasions that one day the Dera Ismail Khan would become a trade hub for the entire world and today his vision was being given practical shape.
He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government had put the country on a path of development by initiating concrete measures to enhance trust of other countries in Pakistan.
The JUI-F chief, who also heads the PDM, said the restoration of trust which the country lost during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) tenure was currently a big challenge for the present coalition government and expressed the strong resolve that the PDM leadership would overcome this challenge like it successfully tackled other inherited challenges.
He said that besides other countries, China pumped in massive investment in the mega development projects of the country, but when PTI came to power “it stalled all mega development projects including the key mega project of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)” by expounding the philosophy that country could not afford such mega development initiatives.
As a result, the country’s economy was shattered with even citizens avoiding investing due to the “flawed and shaky policies of the PTI government”.
He said that Gwadar port played a crucial role in the economic development of the country and it was one of the deepest ports in Asia, but its depth was drastically reduced and work had started again to deepen it.
Fazl also underlined the need for providing funds to the development of merged tribal districts as agreed under the merger plan of those areas.
He said that inhabitants of the merged tribal districts were still lacking facilities and infrastructures that were yet to be developed.
He said the people of those areas don’t have houses and feared that the situation would further aggravate in view of growing terrorism incidents and it was not certain if any development project could be undertaken or not.
He also asked the authorities concerned to revisit the map of Tank Zam dam to address all relevant grievances. He said this would be a multi-purpose project, and adding such dams would help bring about 12 lac acre rain-fed land under cultivation.
He also expressed thanks to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on visiting the Dera Ismail Khan and inaugurating a number of development projects.
