President Pervez Musharraf on Monday said all economic indicators testify that the country has been put on the road to progress and prosperity and record amount was being spent on development projects across the country.
Inaugurating the natural gas supply project to Vehari, he said the nation did not witness as much progress in the 50 years since independence than the achievements made during the past eight years. He said the annual development plan has crossed the figure of Rs 500 billion and countless mega development projects were being executed.
The President said South Punjab gas project will cost the exchequer Rs 3.7 billion benefiting 1.3 million population of three districts and 12 tehsils and towns of the region. The President, praising the accomplishment by Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), said the government would provide Rs 750 million more required to complete this mega project.
He said employment opportunities were expanding, poverty was being alleviated, industrial and agricultural sectors were flourishing and investment was rapidly increasing, all reflecting swift development of the country.
Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, Caretaker Chief Minister Ijaz Nisar, Federal Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Ihsanullah Khan and District Nazim Shahid Mehdi Nasim also attended the event.
President Musharraf said that extremism and terrorism were a big threat to the national development and it was imperative to extirpate it. He sought support of the masses to curb this menace that may reverse the wheel of development and prosperity.
He said suicide attacks are completely un-Islamic and the people should advise such perverts who want to impose their brand of ideology on others. He said he has been to the Holy House of Allah (Khana Kaba) at Makka Mukarrama and sacred Rauza Rasool (PBUH) at Masjid Nabvi, Madina Munawwara several times he never claimed to be a better Muslim than others.
The President urged the people to vote those to power, who may continue the pace of development. He asked the masses to beware of those, who want to stop the wheel of progress and want to spread despondency in the motherland.
He stressed that to him Pakistan comes first and individuals or organisations come later. He said he cherishes to continue to work tirelessly to translate his dream of a developed Pakistan into a reality.
President Musharraf said when he took power the country's development budget stood at Rs 80 billion which has now jumped to Rs 520 billion. He said a huge sum of Rs 87 billion has been spent on Southern Punjab's development during the last five years.
He said in the past only 1,000 villages would get electricity annually, but now this figure has multiplied to 16,000 villages. The gas connections per annum have gone up from 100,000 to 250,000.
He said filtration plants for provision of clean drinking water is being installed all over the country at a cost of Rs 7 billion. This facility will be provided to small villages in the next phase, he added.
The President said some elements wanted to disrupt the pace of progress and tried to create an atmosphere of uncertainty in the country. In order to prevent that he had to impose emergency and now everything had been rectified and normalised.
He announced to set up a campus of agricultural university at Vehari and upgrade the district headquarters hospital from 125 beds to 250 beds. Earlier, Khalid Maqbool and Ihsanullah Khan also spoke. A large numer of ex-MNAs, MPAs and common people, including women attended the ceremony.