F.P. Report
D I KHAN: Federal Minister for Communications Mufti Asad Mahmood on Saturday said that the coalition government was effectively going ahead with its prudent policies to steer the country out of economic woes and restore the confidence of the international community.
“The previous government pushed the country into economic quagmire while toeing anti-Pakistan policies, but the present government is committed to rid the country of negative policies and restored trust of international community,” he expressed these views during a meeting with delegations of elders and notables who called on him at his residence at Abdul Khel.
He said the government’s policies had started yielding results and as a result of which it had restored the trust of Saudi Arabia and China on both the diplomatic and economic fronts. He added that the staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund(IMF) was inherited from the previous Imran government and the present government successfully brought the country out of this crisis.
Referring to the development of DI Khan, the communications minister lamented that the previous government stopped development schemes in the area which were announced by Mian Nawaz Sharif in 2017. But now the government reconsidered and restarted work on all those projects which would usher in the socio-economic development of the entire area.
He said that the Imran government tried its best to roll back the CPEC project and it could not do so and started introducing changes to its original design plan on the pretext of reducing cost. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was neglected as far as the construction of its services roads was concerned while in Punjab services roads were constructed along the CPEC. Similarly, the Paniyala interchange was removed from the project and at some places, the passageways of the flood drains under the road were removed due to which the flood was passing on the motorway on the Yarik-Hakla route during the last flood.
Moreover, in some places, the road has been built below the ground level, which was causing accidents. Now, he said, the government had rectified all those flaws and sent a design change and correction plan for approval. He said the Paniyala interchange would be restored and every possible step would be taken for its development.
He said that projects of the communications department were pursued in a transparent manner and its record was open for the opponents. He said that during the tenure of the prior government, work was stopped on Bund Korai, city-II and Abdul Khel Grid and now instructions had been issued to complete work on those projects.
He said, “The previous government stopped the service road of Hakla Yarik Motorway as soon as the KP limits started, but we have made Issa Khel Mianwali Road while keeping in view the interest of people.” He added that Arsula Bannu Link Road was announced by Mian Nawaz Sharif in 2017, which was stopped by the previous government. To connect Punjab and KP, Klarkot Abdul Khel road project was started by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
