BAHAWALPUR: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has announced the establishment of an industrial estate in Bahawalpur.

Speaking at the solar park opening ceremony on Tuesday, the chief minister apprised the audience of different phases of the project.

He said the desert area of Bahawalpur would be converted into a hub of activities and centre for the provision of jobs.

He welcomed China’s cooperation in the project.

Chairman Chaun Chau Chin of the Chinese company TBEA, which provided solar panels for the park’s first unit, described the inauguration of the first unit of the park as a historic moment.

The venue of the park and the city roads were flooded with flexes carrying pictures of the rulers and multi-coloured flags.

Dawn learnt that four trucks laden with flexes had been brought from Lahore on Monday night by the district administration.

The federal information ministry brought a huge contingent of media men from Islamabad and Lahore for whom a PIA Airbus-320 was chartered by the government.

Officials ignored local media, including correspondents of national dailies, for the coverage of prime minister’s visit.

Majeed Gill, president of the Bahawalpur Union of Journalists (BUJ), criticised the minister over this discrimination.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2015

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