MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas on Friday expressed gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its Fund for Development (SFD) for pledging to finance three important projects in hydropower and road infrastructure development sectors in AJK following their approval by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP).

At a briefing to a select group of journalists in his office, PM Ilyas informed that the SFD would fund 85pc each of Rs11.274 billion and Rs6.614 billion cost of 48megawatt Shounthar hydropower and 22megawatt Jagran-IV hydropower projects in Neelum valley, respectively.

The remaining 15pc cost of each project would be met from the federal government’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), he added.

Elaborating, he said, the CDWP had approved both power projects and the initial loan agreements between Economics Affairs Division and SFD Board of Directors had also been inked.

On its part, the AJK government had acquired land for both projects from its own financial resources, in addition to conducting their Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) to meet the SFD conditions, he said.

The prime minister said that in order to evacuate electricity from these hydropower projects to the Rampura Grid Station in Muzaffarabad, the AJK government had made allocations in its Annual Development Programme for 2022-23 for detailed engineering design and tender documents for the construction of 70km long 132kV transmission line.

The National Transmission Distribution Company (NTDC) had also issued the ‘no objection certificate’ for construction of the proposed transmission line in what was another condition for the loan, he said.

The AJK premier said these projects would not only create employment opportunities during construction and after commissioning but also help address load-shedding problems in Muzaffarabad division to a great extent.

Of the third project, he said, it comprised two tunnels – the first measuring 3.7 kilometres between Kamsar and Kahori and the second measuring 600 metres at Chalpani – along Neelum valley road in the territorial limits of Muzaffarabad district.

He maintained thatthe Neelum valley road wasthe lifeline for the entire area but the rainy spells renderedthis important artery unsafe for travellers between Kamsar and Kahori and Chalpani, due to which the AJK government had planned construction of tunnels there at a cost of Rs 12 billion.

“This will make this artery invulnerable and eventually help improve mobility, boost the economy and generate more employment,” he said.

The AJK premier maintained that at a time when even the big economies were showing reluctance to lend funds to the developing nations, the SFD had come up with this much-needed fiscal support, in what was “a breath of fresh air and yet another manifestation of Saudi government’s proverbial generosity and affection for Pakistan and Kashmir.”

“Words fail me to express my gratitude to the government, people and institutions of Saudi Arabia…They and other gulf nations have generously helped us in the past as well. Sure enough, their benevolence towards us will never wane in future.”

Published in Dawn, October 22th, 2022