MINGORA: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said on Friday that Swat Expressway had been included in the CPEC and would soon be inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He was addressing a gathering of elders and his party workers after inaugurating a burns, trauma and plastic surgery unit in Matta hospital as well as a Nadra registration centre for women in the tehsil.

Federal minister for communications Murad Saeed also accompanied him.

Mahmood Khan said tangible measures were being undertaken for the progress of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“Admissions will begin in the agriculture university’s Swat campus in January next year, while an engineering university will soon be set up in Kabal,” he announced. He said that establishment of women university was also the gift for the people of Swat and surrounding areas.

“To tackle the water scarcity issue in Mingora, the government is bringing a mega project worth Rs8.5 billion which will help resolve the longstanding issue permanently,” he affirmed.

Mahmood Khan maintained that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government was serious in promotion of tourism in the province, particularly Swat.

“Over 90 per cent of the construction work has already been completed on Bahrain to Kalam and Mingora to Malam Jabba roads which will boost tourism in the valley,” he said, adding that rehabilitation of roads was being carried out in all the tourist zones in the province.

He also announced that owing to increase in the population six more colleges were being set up in Swat.

“In the upcoming budget mega projects for every district in KP will be executed for which groundwork has been done,” he said.

He mocked the other political parties and said that PTI believed in the real progress of the country. “We are not among those people who use religious card for their own interests in the political arena,” he said.

Earlier, the chief minister met local people and listened to their issues and directed the officials present on the occasion to resolve the problems at the earliest.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2019