MANSEHRA, Oct 22: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has said that the performance of the successive governments in the past had been very poor and they did not pay any heed to taking in hand the projects of national importance.

He was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the improvement and construction of six-kilometre-long Garhi Habibullah-Brarkot Road, linking Pakistan with Azad Jammu and Kashmir, here on Tuesday. The project will cost Rs20 million.

He said that the provincial government was spending Rs6 billion on the uplift of rain-fed areas of certain district of the province under the Barani Area Development projects with special focus on the development of water reservoirs and resources to improve agriculture produce. This would bring about a revolutionary change in the life of the people of the respective areas.

The governor said that the six-kilometre portion of this important road was in a very bad condition for a long time. He expressed surprise that though the project did not require a huge amount, no government took care of it in the past.

He said that the senior minister of AJK Syed Mumtaz Gilani keeping in view the importance of this road had repeatedly reminded the provincial government about its bad condition.

The AJK senior minister also spoke on this occasion and thanked the governor for his interest in the development of the area.