SIALKOT, Oct 4: AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan said on Saturday his government would give a number of incentives to businessmen who wanted to invest in the valley.

“There are areas like hydro-power, tourism and forestry (for investment),” he told members of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) here on Saturday.

According to him, steps were being taken for expanding AJK industrial base aimed at bringing down unemployment rate.

Khan believed that AJK had potential to produce 5000 megawatt electricity. “Investment in hydro-power generation will considerably reduce the production cost of the exportable products.”

He disclosed that necessary steps had been taken for setting up a dry port and an airport in Mirpur.

The AJK prime minister informed the house that sports goods industry of Sialkot could benefit by using top quality wood from AJK forests which was second only to Swedish wood.

Commending the export culture of Sialkot, he stressed upon the business community to be prepared to meet WTO challenges.

In his address of welcome, SCCI president Tahir Majid said that allout efforts would be made for motivating the business community and investors of Azad Jammu and Kashmir settled in the UK and other countries to come forward with a missionary spirit and invest in the Sialkot Export Processing Zone, which would be a service to homeland as it would play a role in the economic stability of the country.

Earlier, the AJK prime minister laid the foundation stone of Jamia Al-Alam Islamic Studies Centre, to be raised at a cost of Rs80 million.

Students protest: Hundreds of students and their parents have protested the prolonged absence of teachers and even the headmistress at the Government Girls Elementary School, Partanwali.

The protesters took to streets on Saturday, and chanted slogans against the authorities concerned for not taking appropriate action against the teachers and headmistress of the school, who had been receiving their salaries while staying at home. They also described the situation as an outcome of the local education department officials’ negligence.

Talking to newsmen, they alleged that the school headmistress and the teachers had hired a teacher, Farkhanda, who is running the school affairs against a meagre salary. They also alleged that the school’s attendance register showed presence of the teachers, though they rarely turned up to perform their duties.

When informed, learning coordinator Shabbir Ahmad Bhalli visited the school and found the staff missing. The privately hired teacher confirmed that she had been assigned the job by the headmistress and the schoolteachers.

DELEGATIONS: Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan met different delegations of the Kashmiris settled in Sialkot and Narowal districts, at Civil Rest House.