SUKKUR, May 4: The Sukkur barrage has been saved by the untiring efforts of engineers of Pakistan Army and the Frontier Works Organization. This was stated by Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim and Lt.-Gen Zubair of the Corps of Engineers of Pakistan Army while addressing a function at the Sukkur barrage on Tuesday night.

The function had been arranged by Sindh Irrigation Minister Sardar Nadir Akmal Leghari to celebrate completion of rehabilitation work at the barrage.

They said that officials of the irrigation department worked shoulder to shoulder with the army, completing the task well before the deadline and saving Rs125 million from the estimated cost, which was an achievement.

The chief minister said that the people of Sindh had been proud of all those who had taken part in the rehabilitation work, especially the army’s engineers, the FWO, the retired irrigation officials and Pakistani consultants.

He said that the people were also thankful to President General Pervez Musharraf for accepting the request for assigning the work to army engineers who completed the job before the deadline and saved Rs125 million.

Lt-Gen Zubair and the chief minister appreciated the work done by Irrigation Minister Nadir Akmal Leghari and said he had revitalized the department.

General Zubair said that the success of the project had given them the confidence that they could handle any such project without any help from a foreign country.

The general said, “When we took up the project, we were advised to seek help from a foreign consultant, but we sought help from Pakistani consultants instead who not only did a very good job but also saved a huge amount of money which would have been spent on foreign experts.”