Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Saturday said that the former rulers' agenda based upon retrogressive policies only gifted the country with malaise of loadshedding, deprivation and terrorism. Whereas, under the Pakistan Muslim League-N governments, the country always witnessed pro-development policies with an unending string of uplift projects, injecting vigour in the economy and road infrastructure, thus ensuring prosperity which encompassed all regions of Pakistan, he added.
He was speaking to a gathering after performing the inauguration of a 56kms four-lane Khanewal-Multan Motorway Section (M4). The total cost of the project was Rs 12.9 billion out of which an amount of Rs 900 was saved in its execution. The M4 section consists of 44 underpasses, 4 interchanges, 17 bridges and 28 subways. This section is an extension of Lahore -Karachi Motorway which would facilitate traffic from Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab.
It would also serve as a major bypass road for Multan city and help ease heavy vehicular traffic movement in the city. The Prime Minister expressed his confidence that with the completion of mega projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor along with vital hydro, coal, LNG and solar projects and agriculture schemes, Pakistan would enter the 21st century as a developed country.
He regretted the policies of previous rulers which adversely affected the lives of the countrymen and took a huge toll on the country's economy. "Instead of completing the Motorway projects after dislodging our government in 1999, they gifted the industrial, domestic and agriculture sectors with ever-pinching crisis of power outages," he said and questioned "where was the seven-point agenda of such rulers?"
Referring to scourge of terrorism, he said precious lives of policemen, armymen, civil administration people and common men had been lost. "The matters were taken to the worst in the last one decade by the former regimes and the country felt the pangs of untold miseries," he regretted. The Prime Minister told the nation to hold those elements accountable.
He said that accountability had already been started as reflected in the recently held local government elections and the last general elections. The Prime Minister said that they had taken a bold decision over terrorism followed by solid actions, whereas the Karachi operation was also successful and referred to the recent incident of sacrifices rendered by the law enforcement personnel. "We will not budge from our stance against terrorism and soon Pakistan would be a better place to live, banishing the darkness of loadshedding and terrorism forever," he resolved.
Again referring to policies of former rulers, the Prime Minister said that they created divisions and widened the distances among the countrymen, leading to dismemberment of the East Pakistan. Contrary to such negative tendencies, our government has always fostered affection among all parts of the country by closely integrating them into one cohesive whole.
He urged the nation to learn from the bitter lessons of the past. "Now under our government, Balochistan, Sindh, KPK and Gilgit-Baltistan are closely integrated and they feel stronger attachment with other parts," he added. Governor Punjab Malik Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan, provincial high officials and legislators were also present at the ceremony.
The Prime Minister said that certain elements raised objections and resorted to diatribe over the completion of Motorway which was completed at a cost of Rs 21 billion during his previous tenure. But, now they were all ardent supporters of such development projects after failing to prove an iota of corruption, kickback or fault in that project, he added.
The Prime Minister said that work on Motorway from Lahore to Karachi had already begun and the entire country would be linked to magnificent Gwadar seaport project. He termed the Gwadar port opening of 'a new chapter of progress' in the country's history by turning Balochistan into a hub of development. He said that section from Gojra to Shorkot was being executed on a fast-track basis in which billions of rupees had been saved. In Faisalabad to Gojra section alone, an amount of Rs 4 billion was saved.
He announced that Khanewal to Multan section would be extended from four to six lanes with riding quality of Islamabad-Lahore Motorway which would reduce the distance between Multan and Lahore by two hours. He said they spent Rs 27 billion on construction of Attabad Lake tunnels, facilitating the smooth and convenient travel between Hunza and Gilgit.
The Prime Minister said that after completion of Multan-Sukkur and Karachi motorway, people would prefer to travel on it as travelling on Motorways had always been considered as secure and a convenient mode of transportation. He also spoke of critics of Metro bus service, saying that they were opponents of middle, working and toiling classes as they did not want facilities for students, women and labourers. They were opposing the signs of country's prosperity, he added.
The Prime Minister said that under their pro-farmers support policies, his government had announced a Rs .341 billion Kissan relief package. The power tariff for consumes had been reduced and they were trying to bring it further down, he said, adding "You were disgusted with long hours of loadshedding in the past, but now it is no more." He also urged all the chief ministers to help growers of sugarcane to get the full price of their produce which was set at Rs 180 for per 40kg and asked the federal minister Sikandar Hayat Bosan to take personal interest in this issue.
The Prime Minister said that his government was not oblivious to its responsibilities as they were also reaching out to the quake affectees with prompt financial aid and reconstruction efforts. He said that he was personally supervising such activities and had visited Dir, Chitral, Bajaur and Swat. Terming the China Pakistan Economic Corridor as flagship of development for the entire country and region, he said that Lowari Tunnel would be completed by next year, linking Chitral with the rest of the country. He said the work on Hazara motorway in KPK was also underway.
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