CHITRAL: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has said that the government’s development strategy is badly hindered by shortage of funds caused by the loot and plunder of past rulers. He said that the corrupt rulers only knew how to fill their own pockets for which they were going behind bars one by one.

Addressing a public meeting in Reshun village in Upper Chitral district on Friday, he said that it was his strong desire to bring Chitral on par with the developed districts of the province for which he would come out with a comprehensive package once the financial constraints were over.

“As a provincial minister in the last government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in the province, I had made extensive visits to every nook and corner of the district and I know about each and every problem being faced by the people and their requirements,” he said.

The chief minister said that he treated Swat and Chitral as his home districts and would leave no stone unturned to make both upper and lower Chitral developed and prosperous. He said that these districts were full of natural resources and hardworking people.

Mr Khan asked the party workers to start preparations for the forthcoming local bodies’ polls as powers had been devolved to the lower level in which the elected representatives of all tiers would be in an ideal position to deliver to the people in all sectors of development.

He exhorted his party workers to serve the people as elected representatives of local bodies. He announced construction of seven polo grounds in Upper Chitral and a drinking water supply scheme in Reshun village where people were forced to consume contaminated water. He also announced to fill the vacant posts of doctors in the THQ hospital, Booni.

The chief minister inaugurated work on the restoration of 4.2MW hydropower station, owned by Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation, in Reshun at a cost of Rs500 million. The power station was swept away by flash flood in 2015.

Earlier, he distributed cheques of compensation to the village conservation committees of different villages for trophy hunting of Kashmir markhor in a function held in the office of DC Lower Chitral.

The chief minister applauded efforts of the communities for protecting the markhor population. He also inaugurated the office of Performance Management and Reforms Unit on the premises of DC office where he was briefed about the development work in Chitral by deputy commissioner Naveed Ahmed.

The chief minister was accompanied by provincial minister Ishtiaq Armar, Malakand division commissioner Riaz Mahsud and District Development Advisory Committee chairman Wazir Zada.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2019