Govt working on sustained development: Shahbaz

New master plan to be made for Bab-i-Pakistan project

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Sunday the government had started several projects for balanced development in urban and rural areas.

“High standards and transparency are the hallmark of these projects,” the chief minister told a meeting that reviewed progress on various welfare projects across the province.

Sharif ordered that the schemes be completed in time. He said that public funds were being spent on public welfare. “People are benefiting from various education, health and infrastructure projects,” the chief minister said.

Sharif said those opposing such schemes were not well wisher of the common man. He said work on the second phase of Khadim-i-Punjab Rural Roads Programme was underway. “Construction of new roads and repair of old ones will help improve the standards of living in rural areas. The Rs150 billion project will prove a milestone towards a strong rural economy,” he said. He said under the programme, roads on hundreds of kilometres would be built or repaired by 2017-18.

The meeting also reviewed matters related to Bab-i-Pakistan project. It endorsed the proposal for devising a new master plan for the monument.

Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique, parliamentarians Muhammad Munir Azhar and Mian Naseer Ahmed, Chief Secretary Khizar Hayat Gondal, the PTV chairman, and the Lahore commissioner attended the meeting.

Pakistan-Japan ties

The chief minister said strengthening bilateral ties between Pakistan and Japan was the need of the hour. He was speaking to Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Hiroshi Inomata who called on him.

“Japan has made tremendous progress… the country is a role model for developing countries,” Sharif said. He told the envoy there were vast opportunities of investment in education, health and energy projects in the Punjab.

“The province provides an environment conducive for investment. A large number of foreign investors are now interested in investing here,” he said. The Japanese ambassador told the chief minster that Japan wanted to strengthen its relationship with Pakistan.

Kidney, liver transplant institute

Sharif chaired a meeting on Sunday to review progress on the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant Institute.

The chief minister said the project was first of its kind. “Apart from the Punjab, people from across Pakistan will benefit from the institute,” he said.

Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique, the chief secretary, the Planning and Development Board chairman, the specialised health and medical education secretary, the Lahore Development Authority director general and Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant Institute Board of Governors President Saeed Akhtar attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st,  2016.