CHITRAL, Nov 19: Chief engineer of Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), Shiekh Abdullah Alshuaibi, visited the Golen Gol Hydropower Project near Chitral city the other day and called for completion of the project by its August 2015 deadline. The project has the generation capacity of 108 megawatts.

Accompanied by Wapda chairman Raghib Abbas, the SFD technical chief expressed satisfaction with the quality of work. He, however, asked the Korean construction company, Sambu, to accelerate the work and ensure completion of the project by its deadline.

Sheikh Alshuaibi also announced additional grant of $57 million for the project so that financial constraints could not pose a problem for it. He raised a number of points concerning implementation of the design work and said that he would again visit the site in May next.

He was told that work on 3.8 kilometres of the 4.5 kilometres tunnel had been completed while rest of the work would be completed by January.

The SDF chief engineer was accorded warm welcome by local elites, including MNA Iftikharuddin and MPA Ghulam Mohammad on his arrival in Chitral. Those present on the occasion eulogised the efforts of Saudi Arabia for its generous contribution to the power project in Chitral.

The project is the first of its kind in the district and designed with an installed capacity of 108 MW from three turbines.

Golen Gol Hydropower Project is part of the least-cost energy generation plan of the government of Pakistan. It is being executed by Wapda on priority basis to harness indigenous hydropower resources to improve the ratio of hydel electricity in the national grid and help provide relief to the consumers.

The project is located on the Golen Gol river, a major tributary of Mastuj river in Chitral.