Development of Gwadar will benefit entire world: PM

F.P. Report

GWADER: Prime Minister Imran Khan performed ground-breaking of Gwadar International Airport at Gwadar on Friday.

Addressing the ceremony, he said development of Gwadar will benefit not only Pakistan but also the entire world because of its strategic location.

The Prime Minister said Gwadar will be connected with national grid and powers stations will be established there.

He said desalination plants will be installed to make the sea water drinkable.

He said solid waste management plants will also be set up in Gwadar to recycle the water.

Prime Minister said development of railway is a priority of the PTI government and the government will spread railway lines across the country. He said Gwadar will be connected with Quetta through railway line. He said Chinese cooperation will be sought for the purpose.

Imran Khan said Insaf Health Card scheme will also be launched in Gwdar to provide free medical facility to a family up to 720,000 rupees from any hospital.

Under the Clean and Green Pakistan campaign, he said one million saplings will be planted in Gwadar to make the region green.

The Prime Minister said that the expressway being constructed at Gwadar Port will not affect the local fishermen as the government has allocated funds to construct bridges to facilitate them.

Imran Khan commended the role of the Chinese nationals working on development of Gwadar.

He said he is going to China next month for expanding bilateral cooperation in diverse fields, including trade, agriculture technology and fisheries.

New Gwadar International Airport Project (NGIAP) is inducted as an Early Harvest High Priority Project of CPEC Programme in 2014.

Chinese Government has agreed to assist Pakistan for implementation of New Gwadar International Airport under Chinese Grant Assistance.

The NGIAP project is part of overall infrastructure development of Balochistan.

The airport will be developed as a green-field airport with all modern facilities for safe operation.

The airport will be able to accommodate large aircrafts such as A380.

A modern terminal building will be part of project with cargo terminal having initial handling capacity of 30,000 tons per year.

A Memorandum of Understanding regarding Pakistan and China Vocational Training Institute and Pak-China Friendship Hospital were also signed at the ceremony.

Ambassador of People’s Republic of China Mr Yao Jing was also present during the ground breaking ceremony.