Confident of steering country out of economic crisis; Lays foundation stone of infrastructure projects in DI Khan
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday reiterated his vow to uproot the menace of terrorism from Pakistan after nearly seven blasts ripping through Balochistan left five soldiers, including a captain martyred, and injured 15 others.
The premier, while addressing an event in Dera Ismail Khan, said that he would take all possible steps to control incidents of terrorism in the country.
While speaking about a recent event, when terrorists took over a Counter-Terrorism Department in KP, the PM said: “Security forces bravely combatted against the terrorists in Bannu.”
“In recent weeks, incidents of terrorism are on the rise again. Those who embraced martyrdom in Bannu are Pakistan’s heroes. The nation will remember them,” the premier said.
He told the people about visiting the Rawalpindi Hospital to meet soldiers injured in the Bannu operation. The prime minister also spoke about the spate of terror attacks in Balochistan a day earlier.
“Another terror incident took place in Balochistan yesterday. We are working hard to prevent incidents of terrorism. We will employ all resources to uproot terrorism to bring peace in Pakistan,” Premier Shehbaz added.
He also assured of the eradication of extortion and other incidents. Commenting on the state of development in Pakistan, the prime minister said that the country was led towards a disaster due to the wrong policies of the previous government.
Shehbaz Sharif expressed the resolve that despite myriad economic challenges, including the post-flood situation, the coalition government was determined to steer the country out of the current economic crisis.
Addressing a ceremony after laying foundation stones of different infrastructure projects in DI Khan, the prime minister said, “These challenges might be manifold but 220 million people of the country should not get worried, the coalition government with the support of its partners will steer the country out of the challenges.”
“Nations always faced difficulties and the coalition government will put Pakistan on the path of development through hard work,” he added.
Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Haji Ghulam Ali, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, Advisor to PM on Political Affairs Engineer Amir Muqam, Amir of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-F Maulana Fazlur Rehman, relevant authorities and a large number of people were present on the occasion.
The prime minister said that he had laid down the foundations for the commencement of mega-development projects in the backward areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s southern districts.
He mentioned that during his previous visits, these areas were inundated with flood water and the people had faced immense destruction, from Nowshera to Swat, Kalam, Kohistan, DI Khan and Tank districts were badly affected by floods.
Destruction in Swat was caused mainly due to man-made structures in the middle of the river’s course, he said, and criticized the provincial government of PTI for its flawed policies.
The premier sarcastically said that the PTI provincial government always talked about the introduction of an efficient system, but the people had witnessed the crumbling of that system, whereas, the government’s blunders in this regard could not be neglected.
The prime minister said that the federal government had allocated a huge amount of Rs90 billion for the flood-affected populace and each affected family was given Rs25,000 each besides, ensuring the provision of medicines and food.
The magnitude of the disaster was huge, he said, adding the on January 9, a donors’ conference would be held in Geneva and they would remind the world that the climate-induced calamity was the result of global carbon emissions by developed nations.
Pakistan had less than one percent of carbon imprints, but it had been pummeled by the extreme weather due to carbon emissions by developed countries, he opined.
While inaugurating development projects in district DI Khan and realising the dream of Pakistan Muslim League-N supremo Nawaz Sharif of constructing motorways across the country, he said: “Inaugurated development works in DI Khan. [We] have also laid the foundation for the Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway. Nawaz Sharif’s dream of motorways from Peshawar to Karachi has come true.”
“The previous government did not even lay a brick for the DI Khan and Zoheb corridor. The provincial government did not spend a penny on the project that the federal government completed in the past,” he said.
The premier went on to say that the Chashma Right Bank Irrigation Project would irrigate millions of acres of land in Chashma and Mianwali.
