Inaugurates Azakhel Dry Port in Nowshera district
Tariq Saeed
Peshawar
Prime Minister Imran has lamented that the country could not progress and prosper due to the rampant corruption and nepotism during the previous regimes where different set of rules existed in old Pakistan with respect to rich and poor classes.
Addressing an impressive ceremony after inaugurating the Azakhel dry port in Nowshera district some 30 kilometers from here on Friday the Prime Minister said his government was striving to make Pakistan a welfare state and to achieve that target we are trying to come up with policies that are people friendly. The Azakhel dry port has been completed at a cost of Rs510 million and is expected to boost trade and economic activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Imran Khan, however, said the Pakistan Railways lag behind the other countries due to anti-poor policies of the successive governments and the affairs of Railways needed to be improved.
“Let me tell you why no government has ever invested money in railways, because it has been the medium of travel for the poor, not the rich. Money was always poured into things and projects that benefit the rich elite of the country”, regretted the Prime Minister.
Imran said Railways has been in loss for years as it faces losses worth billions every year and the hard-earned tax money that people used to pay for those losses. He said his government was trying to turn railways into a profitable organization so that the common man can benefit from it.
PM announced the government would sell and re-purpose all the land that railways has in order to pay for the previous losses that the previous governments had raked up.
Prime Minister said rail is the medium of travel of common man in the whole world but unfortunately in Pakistan the railways infrastructure was in dilapidated condition due to non-investment adding “Pakistan was a country that the British left with an excellent railway system, but over the years, we have never spent money in this industry. The number of tracks went down after the British left instead of going up”.
Imran said after the completion of the ML-1 project, it will take only eight hours to a train to reach Peshawar from Karachi saying the common man will benefit from this. Besides, he said, that it will also help in freight transportation.
The PM emphasized that Pakistan Railways now have to compete with the private sector asking the employees of the Pakistan Railways to understand that no corruption will be tolerated now.
Imran Khan thanked Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed for earmarking funds for construction of the dry port, which he said will not only boost trade but yield employment opportunities.
Speaking on the occasion the Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad said Rs 510 million Azakhel dry port project will promote business and trade in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”
“I would like to suggest that we add the Peshawar-Jalalabad rail route to the ML-1 track. I assure you Prime Minister Sahib if that happens all smuggling will end in the country.”
He said the Peshawar-Jalalabad railway project would connect Pakistan with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics and turn the province into a hub of trade, business and investment.
He said when it had started, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was solely based on a single railway track; other things were simple minor projects. Today, railways have been left behind because of negligence and CPEC has moved forward,” Rashid said.
Railways Minister also announced that railways will provide raises to its employees from the revenue it is generating adding 100,000 jobs will open up the day the ML-1 railway track opens. The minister said he was hopeful that the Pakistan Railways would become a profitable organization within four years adding the federal government had planned mega projects to strengthen and increase railway connectivity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Sheikh Rasheed disclosed that the proposed railway track would pass through Loi Shalman area of Khyber tribal district, mountainous terrains and beautiful landscapes of KP and thus, promoting tourism.
He said the government has also decided to open the Nowshera-Dargai railways section, which would help promote tourism in Malakand division, including Swat, Dir, Chitral and Buner districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
