Reconstruction plan: Nawaz promises to build five villages in G-B

PML-N expresses dismay over delay in rehabilitation of Karakoram Highway.

GILGIT: Former prime minister and chief of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) Mian Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed concern over the delay in the reconstruction of the damaged part of the Karakoram Highway and asked the Gilgit-Baltistan chief secretary to expedite work on the restoration of the vital link between Pakistan with China.

“It is really a matter of concern that the road has not yet been reconstructed to lessen woes of the stranded people of Gojal,” he said while addressing a gathering in Hunza. He also distributed cheques among the heirs of those who died in the January 4 landslide at Attabad.

Nawaz Sharif said that his party will build five villages in the flood-hit areas of Gilgit-Baltistan for the flood victims adding that he will visit Gilgit-Baltistan in March next year to inaugurate this project.

Talking about the proposed income tax in Gilgit-Baltistan, Nawaz said if the current provincial government succeeded in maintaining good governance and in eliminating corruption, then there is no need to impose tax in the region.

Earlier, former deputy chief executive of Gilgit-Baltistan and PML-N leader Haji Fida Mohammad Nashad gave a detailed briefing about distribution of relief items among the flood victims.

During their visit to the region in summer, the Sharif bothers had promised to provide monetary assistance for the victims of the Attabad lake disaster. The PML-N chief, accompanied by Punjab food minister Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor, and chief of PML-N Gilgit-Baltistan chapter Hafizur Rehman, had arrived in Hunza through a helicopter.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2010.