LAHORE: Appreciating role of the army and police in holding final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) peacefully and apologising to those who suffered on roads due security arrangments, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday said the event has generated feelings of “national integration”.

“Some foolish friends tried to raise the spectre of terrorist threat and advised us against holding the event,” he said, adding that the Punjab government had dealt with the threat by confronting it and it would never submit to terrorists.

During a media talk on Monday, Shahbaz said: “I advise terrorists to either submit to the state or run for their lives. This is our determination that is bound to succeed. We are serving people without discrimination and would continue doing so. Holding such an event is not politics but a matter of national pride and people’s pleasure.”

On a question regarding limited capacity of Gaddafi Stadium, the CM said the Punjab government was ready to provide land if the Pakistan Cricket Board was willing to build a bigger stadium.

Meanwhile, Shahbaz presided over a meeting to review implementation of different projects under the Khadim-i-Punjab Ujala Programme. Addressing the meeting, he said 20,000 schools would get solar energy under this programme and the project was being started from schools of south Punjab. “This programme will be implemented in phases and completed by the end of current year. A comprehensive survey for the provision of solar panels to schools deprived of electricity should be completed at the earliest,” he ordered.

The chief minister said an agreement of 300MW solar power plant had also been made with Zorlu Enerji Company of Turkey.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2017