Shangla Development Authority approved

K-P govt decision is likely to help unlock tourism potential of backward district

PESHAWAR:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mehmood Khan has approved the establishment of Shangla Development Authority (SDA) to develop tourism sector in the scenic district and remove its backwardness.

Provincial Minister for Labour and Parliamentary Affairs Shaukat Yousafzai met the chief minister on Saturday and informed him about the beauty and tourism potential of Shangla district if developed on modern lines and proper attention is paid to the area.

He said that due to the inattention of the governments in the past, it could not develop and prosper and the local residents suffered.

Currently due to the lack of employment opportunities, 70 per cent of the youth from the district is forced to work in coal mines, which is considered a high-risk and low-income job in Pakistan where lives are often lost due to mishaps in pits.

Yousafzai requested the chief minister that SDA should be established to bring the district on a par with the developed districts of the province and to make tourism promotion possible there.

CM Khan approved the establishment of the authority and sought an immediate summary from relevant officials in this regard.

Yousafzai said in his statement that chief minister has left no stone unturned in the development of Shangla district for the first time since the creation of Pakistan.

In this regard, establishment of Shangla University, provision of funds for paved roads and clean drinking water, approval of Rescue 1122, upgrading of dozens of schools, Basham THQ Hospital, Olander basic health unit (BHU), up-grading of Alpuri District Headquarters Hospital, Kana Degree College and now the establishment of Shangla Development Authority are important developments, he maintained.

Yousafzai said that providing facilities to the people of Shangla, decent employment and creating the best infrastructure is the mission of PTI government in the province.

He said that the present provincial government is trying to develop all the backward areas on a priority basis.

Yousafzai noted that the rehabilitation of the flood victims is a big challenge in the province and even in this hour of difficulty, the federal ‘imported’ government is busy in conspiracies against the province rather than extending a helping hand.

Yousufzai said that since the Shehbaz government came into power, the province is not getting its right, all payments have been stopped, which is increasing the financial difficulties of the province, but despite this, CM Khan has made a commitment to the uplift of the Shangla district.

Yousafzai said that SDA is a great gift for the people of Shangla and it will open new ways of development.

He observed that the so-called politicians in Shangla had become active again as elections were nearing, but now the politics of ‘excavators and plastic pipes’ will not work anymore as people were aware of these so-called development projects being used as a political tool.