Sharif says will do what Khan didn’t in KP

• PM Sharif takes pride in international appreciation for improvement in economic indicators, promises developmental projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Creatively recycling Pakistan Tehkreek-i-Insaf (PTI)’s ‘Naya Pakistan’ slogan, Prime Minister Nawaz Thursday expressed his desire to see ‘Naya Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ and promised infrastructure and developmental projects in the north-western province.

Speaking at a workers’ convention in KP, PM Sharif said the PTI-led government in KP had been given every opportunity to remedy the problems faced by the province, but it had failed.

“We are laying the foundations for a new Pakistan. We did it before, we are doing it today, and in the future you will see the government will not just make a new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but the best Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”

The prime minister claimed that no new motorway had been built in Pakistan after the completion of the Peshawar-Islamabad-Lahore motorway, and the government has now planned to extend the motorway to Karachi in an effort to make various parts of the country accessible by road and bring the provinces closer.

“Hazara motorway is not far from completion and the day is not far when a Peshawar-Kabul motorway is built. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will have expressways and motorways, hospitals, schools and universities. The PML-N will build them for you and your future generations,” he stated.

Addressing the matter of the Lowari tunnel, Sharif said that those who had pushed for the construction of the tunnel had been unable to complete it as yet. His government would complete the construction of the tunnel within the next two years, he promised.

Anticipating an extension of the laptop scheme, he said that within the next three to four years, children would be eligible for thousands of more laptops.

Moreover, Sharif announced that the electricity shortfall would be combated with the combined output of more than 15,000 MW from the completion of the Diamer-Bhasha, Rondu-Bunji and Dasu dams. He promised that electricity outages will be eliminated in the next three years.

The prime minister said the national economy is being revived and international organisations including Moody’s, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Bloomberg have appreciated the economic achievements of the government.

Addressing PML-N parliamentarians in a separate press conference, Sharif said, “Terrorists are running and their backbone has been broken. There will not be any more terrorism in Pakistan.”

The premier announced that the Afghan government is cooperating with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism and went on to say that the government will redirect its attention to other matters once terrorism has been eliminated.