TIMERGARA: Lower Dir’s district development advisory committee chairman Saeed Gul on Saturday inaugurated the Lal Qilla sports stadium in Maidan, which was completed at a cost of Rs50 million.

The function was attended by area elders, sportsmen, students and teachers. Maidan tehsil nazim Bakhtiar Khan and district councillor Abdullah Shah also spoke on the occasion.

Mr Gul said that the promise made with the youth of Maidan had been fulfilled with the construction of the stadium. He said that sports activities kept people fit and healthy and away from hospitals.

He said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had planned to construct sports stadiums in all tehsils which would provide the youth and students with opportunities to shine their talent in games.

CPEC ISSUE: Provincial finance minister Muzaffar Said on Saturday urged the federal government to avoid making any change to the original plan of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

Addressing a public gathering here at Gall Maidan, he observed that CPEC was a sensitive issue and the centre should not make any change in its route. He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would fully resist any change in the route.

On this occasion, councillors Umar Bacha, Wali Rehman, Mazhar Zeb, Shah Faisal, Alamgir Khan and Mohammad Zahir and 240 other workers of Awami National Party and Pakistan Peoples Party from Lacha village in Maidan announced to quit their parties and join Jamaat-i-Islami.

Mr Said welcomed the new entrants and hoped that they would work for strengthening of the party.

He said that the PML-N led federal government had been making the CPEC controversial, but the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government would not let it to change the route.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2016