MULTAN, Dec 11: Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool laid foundation stone of an 11-kilometre dual carriageway to be constructed between Qadirpur Raan and Chowk Kumharanwala, on Thursday.

The project will be completed within 10 months at a cost of Rs270 million. National Highway Authority chairman Maj-Gen Farrukh Javed was also present on the occasion.

The governor said development projects worth Rs2 billion had been launched in Multan through various nation-building departments. The Pakistan Railways had almost completed a project worth Rs3.29 billion of dualization of track between the Lodhran-Multan-Khanewal section, he added.

Multan District Nazim Riaz Husain Qureshi described this road project as a momentous decision for this area. He said the performance of the federal government departments had improved since the governor had started visiting these in the province.

He said the projects of electrification and gas supply in the rural areas should not be attached to the grants of the members of the National Assembly, but the department concerned should allocate funds for the neglected areas.

The governor also visited the Multan Electric Power Company headquarters, regional office of the Zarai Tarraqiati Bank, railway station and Dera Adda customer centre of PTCL during his stay.

He also inaugurated a craft bazaar near the Ghanta Ghar Chowk where the work of local artisans will be displayed permanently from now onwards. He said he had ordered establishment of the Multan college of arts in order to preserve the native artforms, besides providing a platform for creative activity in the fields of fine arts.

He also visited the local passport office where he was told that 175 applications were received daily at the office.

The governor ordered that the Khushali Bank should advance loans to the agents working outside the passport office for the purchase of computers and other accessories, saying “they cannot be rendered jobless.”