The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has allocated Rs 3.14 billion for 54 projects in sports, tourism and culture heritage in the budget for next financial year 2017-18 wherein Rs 2.52 billion have been allocated for projects and Rs 620 million for new projects.
In his budget speech for fiscal year 2017-18, Provincial Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said Advocate said the government had initiated 53 developmental schemes in sports, tourism and culture sectors to bring back the traumatized youth to healthy activities besides portraying a soft image of the province at national and international levels.
Muzaffar Said Advocate said that resources for completing Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium were on fast track. He informed that a total of 53 different schemes initiated for the development of sports infrastructure, and for creating facilities in the Rustam Sports Complex. He said work on 158 playgrounds had been initiated of which 85 were about to complete by December this year.
Recalling the government's four-year performance, he said for the first time in the history it formulated tourism and youth policies to promote adventure tourism. The Finance Minister said to facilitate the influx of the tourists on different tourism spots, the government initiated a plan to develop modern-day tent village at nine different places out of which four had been completed while the work on the rest of them in process.
He said for highlighting the soft image of the province, the events like motorcycle rallies, jeep rallies, male and female gliding events vantage car rally, safari train, boating, family festival at Dera Ismail Khan, Hunar Mela and Food Festival etc organised wherein large number of people turned up.
He said for ensuring one window facility Directorate of Tourists' Services was constituted which could share information with the travel agents, guides, hotel and restaurants. He said after coming to power the province has 114 playing facilities but within four-year times it initiated 115 new developmental projects in sports besides rehabilitating 36 different grounds and stadium across the province.
He disclosed that projects included excavation of the new heritage at different places all across the province and protection and development of culture heritage and Kalash culture. He said steps like construction of Art Academy in Peshawar and Culture Complexes at Divisional level besides establishing of culture endowment fund have been taken. He said the football ground at Qayyum Sports Complex would be established according to international needs besides provision of hockey turfs at Dera Ismail Khan, Swat, Kohat and Charsadda.