Mirpur airport: PM to perform groundbreaking in July

An amount of Rs500 million has been proposed in the forthcoming PSDP for the year 2012-13 to start work on the project

MIRPUR:

A world-class airport will be constructed in Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, to link the city with the rest of the world.

This was announced by Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Mian Manzoor Wattoo while addressing a national conference on “Islamic Law, International Community and Global Peace” held on Saturday. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani will perform the groundbreaking of the airport in July.

An amount of Rs500 million has been proposed in the forthcoming Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the year 2012-13 to start work on the project, the minister said.

He said that the airport will benefit millions of overseas Kashmiris hailing from Mirpur district, as well as Pakistani expatriates belonging to the adjoining areas, by allowing them a travel facility close to their ancestral abodes.

Prime Minister Gilani had recently announced the establishment of an international airport in Mirpur in response to the demand of the newly-elected AJK Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2012.