RAHIM YAR KHAN, Dec 4: Punjab governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired) has vowed to commission the Abbasia Link Canal system on partial basis to boost the agriculture sector.

He was addressing dignitaries, including district Nazim Makhdoom Syed Ahmad Mahmood and other people, here on Tuesday.

The canal network was laid in 1985 with the expenditure of Rs4.5 billion to irrigate 700,000 acres in eastern belt of the district. However, it had been without water from the day it was completed due to the opposition of some political families.

The project will also benefit some areas of Cholistan.

The governor said 70 per cent of the Punjab budget had been allocated for agriculture and rural development. A comprehensive programme had been launched for the promotion of agricultural research and irrigation, he added.

He maintained around 50,000 people would be able to stand on their feet with disbursement the zakat fund while 300,000 people would be financially better off within a year and a half.

The government’s successful policies during the present crisis had brought economic relief to the country with the cooperation of the rest of the world, he said.

The governor said funds for the Khushhal Pakistan programme had been doubled while the development funds of Rs160 million had been converted into Rs320 million in the district.

Appreciating services rendered by staff in the Shaikh Zayed Hospital, he assured patients that performance of basic health units and rural health centres would be improved.

He also vowed to improve livestock department, to provide water and cattle breeding facilities in Cholistan and to initiate work on link roads. He also visited a link road connecting Rahim Yar Khan and Sadiqabad.

Mr Maqbool visited several Cholistani cultural spots in the Town Hall and assured measures to bring improvement in the department.

Meanwhile, he interacted with police officials and urged them to fight for restoration of department’s image. He directed the officials to spare no pains in bringing the culprits to book. He also assured them that handsome grants would be offered for the betterment of the department.

Elimination of poverty and illiteracy were the government’s top priorities, he concluded.