MANSEHRA: Federal minister for Haj and interfaith harmony Sardar Mohammad Yousuf on Monday asked the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to shun unjustified propaganda on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project and wondered if Hazara is not part of KP.

“I ask Chief Minister Pervez Khattak not to mislead lawmakers and public regarding CPEC as I know he is jealous of the federal government over great development in Hazara and other parts of province through the CPEC project,” he told a reception hosted in his honour by the Pakistan Peace Council at the Mansehra Press Club.

The minister said the multi-party conferences would soon be organised at districts and divisional level to give a ‘tit-for-tat’ response to the resolution adopted by the provincial assembly seeking the western route of the CPEC.

“We cannot allow the PTI government to highjack the ongoing development projects under the CPEC in Hazara and other parts of KP and will give reciprocal response to propaganda spread by it in the name of western route of the CPEC project. We will soon hold multi-party convections at district and divisional levels to remove misconception about the multibillion dollar project,” he said.

Mr. Yousuf said the PTI government had failed to live up to the expectations of the people in KP, especially those living in Hazara, and therefore, it was creating hue and cry to hide own weaknesses but the people could well judge its performance.

Federal minister says can’t allow PTI govt to ‘highjack’ corridor-related projects in province

He said work on Hassanabdal-Havalian and Havalian- Mansehra Motorway being built under the CPEC project was in progress and that the time was not far away when the people not only in Hazara but also in other parts of the country would benefit from the fruits of the mega project.

The minister said his party, PML-N, firmly believed in the people’s development through mega development projects and that was why Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced the release of Rs1.87 billion for the laying of an alternative natural gas pipeline from Abbottabad to Mansehra.

“As work on Abbottabad-Mansehra alternative gas pipeline completes, the second phase of the project will start to supply gas to Balakot and Oghi tehsils and Tanawal area. The prime minister has sanctioned Rs1.87 billion for the first phase,” he said.

Mr. Yousuf said the federal government had inked an agreement with Japanese government to supply drinking water to Mansehra city from Jabbar area in Siren valley and that the Japanese government would execute the scheme at the cost of Rs5 billion.

FOUR KILLED IN ACCIDENT: Four members of a family, including two brothers, were killed and 12 others suffered injuries when a mini-truck skidded off the road and fell into a ravine in Khaki area on Monday.

The family of Noor Mohammad was on the way to Khaki area from Bassal area in Kaghan valley to spend the winter season but the truck in which they were traveling plunged into a ravine after the bursting of a tyre.

The accident caused the death of a woman and three children of the family on the spot.

The local residents shifted the injured to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital from where eight were referred to the Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad due to critical condition.

The Khaki police registered an FIR and began investigation to ascertain the exact cause if the accident.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2016