PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government spent Rs10 billion on promotion of sports, tourism, youth affairs and culture in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during its five years in office.

This was stated by secretary sports, tourism, youth affairs and culture Mohammad Tariq Khan while talking to mediapersons here on Monday.

In 2008 to 2013, he said there was a total of 186 development schemes for which Rs317 million were allocated by the then government, but the PTI government completed 249 development schemes at a cost of Rs10 billion during its five years tenure.

Giving an year-wise detail of the five-year plan, Tariq Khan disclosed that in 2013-14 there were 42 schemes that cost Rs730 million, followed by 44 more schemes in 2014-15 completed at a cost of Rs1.1 billion, in 2015-16 a total of 55 schemes cost Rs1.5 billion, followed by 54 more schemes with an expenditure of Rs2.2 billion and in 2017-18 54 schemes were completed with a cost of Rs2.1 billion. He said the aggregated total stood at about Rs10 billion.

He said a total of 112 development schemes, including 55 playgrounds at tehsil level, 20 playgrounds at schools level, and 19 sports complexes were initiated, out of which, 21 had been completed and the rest were near completion.

Tariq Khan said the ongoing projects included Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium (Rs1.3 billion), laying of hockey turfs in Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Charsadda and Peshawar (Rs360 million), Tartan Track for athletics at Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan (Rs320 million), state-of-the-art gymnasiums in Nowshera and Abbottabad (Rs428 million), construction of sports complex at Swabi (Rs200 million), Kohat (Rs167 million), Mardan (Rs241 million), nine modern synthetic Tennis courts – four in Pakistan Tennis Club Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium, three at Hayatabad Sports Complex and two at Qayyum Sports Complex -- with a cost of Rs360 million, four squash courts in Qayyum Sports Complex (Rs100 million).

Saying that several playgrounds had been handed over to the directorate of sports after completion, Tariq Khan said the government had also achieved completion of 100 grounds, including 55 newly-constructed all across the province comprising two grounds each in Peshawar, Kohat, Hangu, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Abbottabad, Malakand, Chitral, Haripur, three each in Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Karak, four in Dera Ismail Khan, six each in Swat, Lower Dir, one each in Tank, Manshera, Batagram, Torghar, Buner and Kohistan.

“We have also succeeded in highlighting a soft image not only of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but also of the whole of Pakistan to the rest of the world through different cultural activities,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2018