KP govt plans to generate electricity from natural gas

PESHAWAR The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is planning to generate cheap electricity from additional natural gas produced locally to bring about industrial revolution in the province. In this regard Chief Minster Pervez Khattak said on Friday that the federal government had endorsed the right of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the use of natural gas produced in the province. He said that the government would be able to overcome unemployment in the province. Mr Khattak said this while speaking at public meetings at Dag Ismailkhel and Khush Muqam areas of Nowshera after inaugurating work on Jalozai Housing Scheme on Friday, according to a handout. The chief minister regretted that the corrupt, commission mafia, thieves and looters had ganged up against him and they were busy hatching conspiracies against his government. However, he vowed that such conspirators would fail to harm him as people were fully behind him. He cautioned Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali to shut his mouth and instead of levelling allegations against Pakhtuns, who had always rendered matchless sacrifices for the motherland, focus attention on eliminating bribery batha and power stealing mafia from his own department and revive the confidence of people in Wapda. Sharing details of the housing scheme, secretary housing Engineer Zahid Arif said that the estimated cost of Jalozai Housing Scheme was Rs11 billion while the revenue was estimated at Rs12 billion. He said that there were total 8571 plots in the scheme, including 3000 five marlas, 1809 seven marlas, 1694 of 10 marla, 1129 one kanal and 39 commercial plots of two kanals each. He said that development work on this housing scheme was immediately started and would be completed in nine months while the allottees would be given occupation forthwith. The chief minister said that Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf chairman Imran Khan and he had raised voice against corruption and commission mafia from the very beginning and promised to first change the corrupt and rusted system so that people could benefit the fruit of such change themselves. We are closely pursuing the manifesto of PTI and vision of Imran Khan and working round the clock to get success otherwise I know that PTI will fail all over the country if we failed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr Khattak said. He appealed to the people to wait a little more for economic prosperity. He said that there was a small number of government jobs and as such the unemployment of a single constituency could not be removed even if job vacancies of the entire province were diverted to it. Mr Khattak said that the existing industrial estates would be revived in Gadoon Amazai Risalpur Hattar Swat, Malakand, Jalozai and southern districts by providing them cheap electricity through surplus gas in the province. He said the first ever unique projects of Technical University and Air University had been approved at Azakhel and work on them would be started soon. He said that the DHQ hospital, Nowshera, had been upgraded to a teaching hospital while a medical college was also approved to be set up on the premises of the old hospital. He said that people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would see revolutionary changes in their streets, bazaars, cities, and health, education and all other institutions after the new local government system.