K-P CM directs handover of land for CPEC City to FWO

Gives officials two weeks to complete the process, warns of no further extensions for Swat motorway

PESHAWAR: A day after Chief Minister Mahmood Khan told a CPEC Joint Cooperation Meeting how the province was opening its doors to its immense natural resources and scenic sites, he directed officials to hand over possession of land to build a CPEC City in Nowshera to the FWO.

He further warned that no further extensions will be provided in completing the Swat Motorway and sought monthly progress reports on the project.

These directions were issued on Wednesday as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan chaired a meeting to review the progress of key developmental projects initiated by the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) in the province at Chief Minister House in Peshawar.

Noting that the speedy completion of ongoing mega development projects in the province is a priority for his administration, Mahmood asked about the progress on constructing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) City in Nowshera. The meeting was briefed that FWO has deployed its unit to start work on CPEC City. However, work will only start after FWO takes full possession of the requisite land.

He directed to hand over land for the project to the FWO within two weeks so that civil work can begin.

The meeting was told that around 80 per cent of work has been completed on the Nowshera Medical College (NCM) while 90 per cent of work on the Kabul River Bridge has been completed. Mahmood directed to ensure the provision of all necessary resources for completing construction of the two projects.

The chief minister directed the relevant authorities to present detailed progress reports on the construction of an oil refinery and a cement plant in Haripur apart from progress on construction of hydropower projects in the province.

He was told that work on other small-scale projects, such as Regi Model Town in Peshawar, is in progress and are expected to be completed within the given timeline.

The meeting was further briefed about the progress made in completing civil works for the first phase of the Swat Motorway, from Rashakai to Chakradra. To complete civil work in time, officials briefed that work is being carried out in three shifts.

With the province seeing the first snowfall of winter the night before, Mahmood pointed out that no further extensions in the given timeline of the project will be tolerated. He added that monthly progress and detailed activity reports with timelines should be submitted to his office.

“The project will serve as a gateway to the rapid promotion of trade and tourism in the region, especially for international tourism,” he said, stressing that all available resources must be utilised to ensure that the project is completed on time.

He further directed to take pragmatic measures to deploy officers of the National Highways and Motorways Police on the Swat Motorway to better manage traffic and enforce rules.

To build the Ghallanai-Mamadgat Road in the Mohmand Tribal District as soon as possible, he directed to procure land in time.

He assured that the provincial government will provide all support for the early completion of developmental projects.

Chief Minister also directed the concerned authorities to call the next meeting after 20 days, wherein detailed progress reports on the construction of the oil refinery, cement plant in Haripur, hydropower projects in Chitral and progress made on the construction of a bypass road in Abbottabad.

K-P Assembly Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, K-P Communications and Works Minister Akbar Ayub Khan, Advisor to Chief Minister on Merged Districts Ajmal Khan Wazir, Principal Secretary to CM Shahab Ali Shah, administrative secretaries of the concerned departments, and senior officials of FWO, Peshawar Development Authority (PDA), K-P Highway Authority (K-PHA) and others attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2019.