QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani said on Thursday that the Quetta Development Package would give a boost to economic activities in the city.

He was presiding over a meeting which reviewed the pace of work on some development projects launched under the Quetta Development Package.

He said the project would make Quetta a big urban centre and open doors for local and foreign investors to set up industries and do business in many other sectors in Balochistan. The project would make Quetta more beautiful, he added.

Provincial advisers Naeem Khan Bazai and Abdul Khaliq Hazara, MPA Abdul Qadir Nail and CM’s special assistant Arbab Farooq Kasi attended the meeting.

Commissioner Quetta Usman Ali Khan, who is also project director of the Quetta Development Package, briefed the meeting on progress on the project. He said an expansion of 1.5km in Joint Road and the expansion of the airport would likely to be completed after Eid. He also briefed the meeting on the Joint Road flyover and expansion of Sabzal Road.

CM Alyani directed officials to ensure protection of public interest while purchasing land for roads expansion. He also approved facilities for Liaquat Park, Satellite Town Ladies Park, Sadiq Shaheed Park, Benazir Park and green belt for Airport Road.

It was decided at the meeting that sport complexes would be constructed in Quetta’s Sariab Road and Airport Road areas.

“The provincial government would ensure quality of development projects in the city. We are utilising all resources to complete development schemes on given time frame” Mr Alyani said.

Meanwhile, head of the Pakistan Poverty End Fund Semi Kamal called on CM Alyani on Thursday and discussed with him government’s initiative to reduce poverty ratio in Balochistan.

Ms Kamal informed CM Alyani about the Poverty End Fund, saying that it provided assistance to poor people across the country. “We help people in agriculture, livestock and other sectors.”

She expressed interest in working with the provincial government for eliminating poverty from Balochistan.

Mr Alyani appreciated her interest in working with the provincial government and said his government had established a task force to address the water crisis in Balochistan.

He said that experts had been inducted into the task force. For boosting economic and social activities in the province, a social investment cell has also been established. Through joint initiatives, poverty could be eliminated from the province, he added.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2019