BATKHELA/SWABI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Monday said the Swat Expressway project would be completed by the end of the current year.

“This project will not only provide transport facilities to the local residents but it will also turn the entire Malakand division into a hub of tourism,” he said after inaugurating the south tunnel of Swat Motorway in Zulam Kot area near Chakdara here.

He inspected work on the Swat Motorway project in Bakhshali.

Communication and works minister Akbar Ayub, MPA Shaukat Yousafzai, Frontier Works Organisation director general Major-General Inam Haider Malik, commissioner of Malakand division Zaheerul Islam and relevant civil and military officers attended the function.

Inaugurates south tunnel of motorway near Chakdara

The last PTI government had initiated work on the Rs34 billion flagship project.

Work on 50 kilometers road up to Katlang has been completed, while work up to Chakdara is likely to be completed by Dec.

The chief minister said the project would promote tourism and trade in Malakand division and thus, ushering in a new era of development.

He said he wanted to see children get basic education in their respective mother tongues.

Mr Mahmood inspected roads from Karnal Sher Khan Interchange to Bakhshali Road and later rode a helicopter to examine the Bakhshali-Zulam Kot stretch.

The FWO DG briefed him on the progress on Swat Motorway.

The chief minister ordered the motorway’s early yet quality construction and said the project should be completed by Dec.

“This motorway is a unique project, which the provincial government has initiated. We will complete it using own resources,” he said.

Mr Mahmood said the project would make Malakand division a centre of tourist activities and would open up new vistas of development in the region.

He said the 80km mega project would have seven interchanges from Karnal Sher Khan Interchange to Chakdara and would also develop and upgrade services in local villages.

The chief minister thanked the people for giving land for the construction of motorway and said the land acquisition money would soon be given to landowners.

“It’s a project of public welfare, public development and public prosperity, which will usher in a new era of development in the entire Malakand. Our government will never compromise development and prosperity of the people and will address sense of deprivation prevailing among them,” he said.

Mr Mahmood planted a deodar sapling there and ordered the plantation of trees on both sides of the motorway.

He also issued directions for the construction of rest areas, mosques and markets on the motorway.

The chief minister also promised the speedy completion of work on the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit project and insisted that ‘some issues partially’ delayed the project’s successful execution as scheduled.

“We have started monitoring the quality of work and early completion of the bus project, which is meant to beautify the entire city,” he said.

In Swabi, the chief minister visited various sections of the Swat Motorway and examined work.

Frontier Works Organisation director general Inam Malik briefed him on the project at the Captain Karnal Sher Khan (Shaheed) Interchange of Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway.

The 50-kilometer section of the Swat Motorway was inaugurated in May by then chief minister Pervez Khattak.

The FWO DG said the organisation would soon resume work on one of the two tunnels.

The chief minister blamed delay in the BRT project on the National Accountability Bureau’s inquiry into it.

He said his government was striving to complete all projects without delay as they promised the people’s development.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2018