K-P green-lights Rs1b sports city project

The provincial government on Thursday approved the establishment of the first-ever sports city of the country in the Regi Model Town of the provincial capital.

The project is estimated to cost around a billion rupees to build.

The proposal was approved by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Thursday. He was chairing a meeting of the K-P Sports Directorate-General for setting up the Sports City. The chief minister directed to immediately commence work on the project, starting with the recruitment of international consultants.

During the meeting, CM Mahmood was told that the provincial Sports Directorate General had sought applications from consultancy firms for the establishment of the city. In response, six firms had submitted bids.

The consultant, they said, will be selected through regular, transparent and public advertisement.

It was further briefed that the proposed sports city will be set up over 350 kanals of land owned by the Peshawar Development Authority and will feature all modern facilities.

Reviewing the progress made on upgrading the Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium, participants of the meeting were informed that the stadium is being prepared as per the standards of the International Cricket Council (ICC) for Rs1.37 billion.

Further, the provincial government is working to set up 1,000 sports grounds for the youth and substantial funds were being utilised for it.

Separately, CM Mahmood chaired a progress review meeting of the K-P Tourism Department on Thursday. The chief minister directed for the timely completion and rehabilitation of access roads to tourist spots in the Malakand and Hazara divisions. Special attention should also be paid to schemes initiated under the Integrated Tourism Zones (ITZs) project.

The chief minister was informed that during the last financial year, all the money released was fully utilised. In the ongoing financial year, Rs0.91 billion has been spent from the Rs2.9 billion allocated for new and ongoing projects.

While the tourist season was disrupted due to the pandemic, officials said that of the 168 government-owned rest houses in the province, 128 will be re-advertised for outsourcing next month.

In this regard, five rest houses in Nathiagali have been transferred to the tourism department under the ITZ programme. Further, four ITZs sites have been approved in Manshera, Abbottabad, Lower Chitral and Swat. These projects are expected to be ready for launch by next June.

Similarly, a survey for eight new ITZs sites has been conducted and will soon be presented to the relevant forum for approval.

The new ITZ sites include Kalash valley Lower Chitral, Shahi in Lower Dir, Jaroga fall in Swat, Marghzar, Mahabanar, Ilum valley in Buner, Serene and Mamoor valleys Mansehra district.

Furthermore, under the PSDP projects, feasibility studies have been approved for the development of resorts at Takht-e-Sulaman in DI Khan, Garam Chashma Chitral, Chapri and Shalzone in Kurram, Sheikh Baden Lakki and Takhtbhai Mardan district.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2020.