PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Wednesday directed the relevant departments to ensure timely completion of ongoing projects to accelerate economic growth, improve public service delivery, and strengthen governance outcomes across the province.

He issued the directives while chairing a meeting to assess the utilisation of development funds and progress on key development initiatives in the province, according to a statement issued here.

The chief minister reiterated that health and education remained among the provincial government’s highest development priorities, adding that the upcoming Annual Development Programme would continue to place particular emphasis on these sectors.

He underscored that the provision of quality healthcare services was a fundamental responsibility of the government and emphasised that no compromise would be made on improving access to essential health services for citizens.

Mr Afridi noted that the growing patient burden on major hospitals in the provincial capital necessitated enhanced attention, strategic planning, and targeted investments in the health sector.

He stated that the provincial government was pursuing a comprehensive approach to strengthen healthcare infrastructure and service delivery to meet increasing public demand.

Reaffirming the government’s development agenda, Mr Afridi stated that projects of significant public importance, particularly those nearing completion, would be prioritised to ensure that development gains were realised and delivered to communities without delay.

He emphasised the provincial government’s commitment to ensuring the transparent, efficient, and timely utilisation of development resources, saying that all-out efforts would be made to extend the benefits of development investments to every region and segment of society.

The meeting reviewed expenditures and implementation progress under the province’s ADP, the Merged Districts ADP, the Accelerated Implementation Programme (AIP), and various foreign-assisted development projects.

The meeting was informed that the Merged Districts ADP currently led in terms of fund utilisation, with 94 per cent of released funds expended to date, and that the utilisation under AIP had reached 92 per cent, while 88 per cent of released funds under the provincial ADP had been utilised.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2026