Federal Minister for Communications, Arbab Alamgir Khalil said that work on the Peshawar-Torkham road will start in December this year and will be completed in two years.
Talking to a private news channel, he said that the Peshawar-Torkham Road would not only provide access to Afghanistan and to Central Asian Republics but would also promote trade and economic activities in the region.
He said that this road made according to international standards would be completed at a cost of Rs 7.5 billion with the financial assistance of United States (US). The minister said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government had taken proactive steps for the development of the country as a whole, particularly in the northern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), including district Chitral. “We want to remove the sense of deprivation among the underprivileged areas of the country,” he maintained.
To a question, Arbab said that the Lowari tunnel project would also be completed at a cost of Rs 18 billion within the stipulated period of three years, adding that the construction work was being carried on with full swing on the mega-development project.
He also said that after the completion of the mega Lowari tunnel scheme a new era of development would be initiated in multi-dimensional areas including trade, tourism, industry and agriculture in the region. The federal minister said that political forces had raised negative propaganda against the mega-scheme to gain political mileage, saying that the project would be completed in due course of time as it was initiated by the PPP-founder, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
He said that PPP had always faced all kind of challenges and with the completion of all ongoing development projects it would emerge victorious even in the court of the people and would win the next general elections on the basis of its better performance.
