Development bonanza: PM earmarks over Rs1b for Sanghar

Ashraf also inaugurated around a dozen development, telephone and internet projects in the village Chak No 11.

HYDERABAD:

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Saturday earmarked a whopping Rs1.115 billion for a bonanza of projects in his hometown Sanghar and his alma mater during a visit to the district.

The prime minister approved his alma mater Government College Kali Mori’s PC-I request for repair and maintenance worth Rs455 million. It is not clear whether the money announced was drawn from the premier’s discretionary funds on development.

“I am not announcing these funds as a political move… There is no ECP ban on funding education development,” he said in his address at the reception at Government College Kali Mori.

Ashraf also inaugurated around a dozen development, telephone and internet projects in the village of his birth, Chak No 11, around 3km from Sanghar city.

He inaugurated a Rs449 million fibre-optic scheme as well, which has been laid over 1,038kms and connects 17 talukas in Mirpurkhas division. Eight infrastructure development projects, costing Rs70 million, were also inaugurated.

He also announced a sum of Rs20 million for development schemes on the request of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Roshan Deen Junejo.

Meanwhile, observing that many flood-affected areas in the district were still submerged, the premier promised to fix the damage ‘at any cost’.

Talking about the upcoming elections, PM Ashraf said, “Elections will be clean and no rigging can be done this time.” He claimed the developmental work done under PPP’s five year tenure is far better than that done in the rest of the country’s 60-year history.

He said the PPP opted for a reconciliation policy in greater national interest and united the entire nation against terrorism. Stressing the need for national unity in order to cope with terrorism, deteriorating law and order situation, inflation, energy crisis and other issues, he said, “Only parliament and a democratic system can steer the country out of this situation.”

IP pipeline project

Talking to the media following his address at the college, Ashraf appeared undaunted by the threat of US sanctions if the government pursued the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline. He announced that the project would not be shelved in the face of outside pressure.

“We are trying to complete this project to address our energy crisis … While the initial agreement had been struck between Pakistan, Iran and India, we now want the pipeline to be laid in our country at least,” he told reporters.

On Friday, US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland cautioned Pakistan against ‘sanctionable’ activities with reference to Iran. Her statement came in response to Islamabad’s adamancy in pursuing the IP pipeline project and reports that Iran was considering building an oil refinery in Pakistan.


Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2013.