Sherpao promises to rebuild Malakand

Sherpao promises to rebuild Malakand

MINGORA, March 11: Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao said on Monday that he would announce a special package to rebuild the damaged infrastructure in Malakand division particularly in Swat district if his party was voted to power in the upcoming elections.

“Around 2.5 million people were displaced and the infrastructure was destroyed in Malakand division. It is yet to be reconstructed,” he told a public meeting at Gulkada in Swat to mark the 38th death anniversary of his elder brother and former governor Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao.

QWP leaders Bakht Baidar Khan, Fazl Rehman, former senator Shujaul Mulk, Sher Badurzada Khan and others also addressed the gathering.

On the occasion, several activists and supporters of Awami National Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, including former nazim Bacha Khan, Dil Nawaz, Anwar Shah, Ihsanullah, Ali Mohammad Khan, Fida Hussain and Sabz Ali announced joining QWP.

Mr Sherpao said that neither the president nor the prime minister paid any visit to Malakand division to express solidarity with the militancy-hit people.

“We will introduce a comprehensive financial package to revive tourism sector in the picturesque Swat valley to attract foreign and local tourists that will not only generate revenue, but will also create job opportunities for people in general and youth in particular,” he said.

The QWP chief said there was a lot of potential for hydel power generation in Swat and the rest of Malakand division. He said that his party would work out a plan to tap the water resources so as to help overcome the energy crisis.

Mr Sherpao said that security forces should move out of Malakand division and transfer its control to the civil administration.

He said that chief minister and leader of the opposition in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly held talks about the caretaker setup in the province without taking other political parties into confidence. “There is no transparency in the process to put in place a caretaker setup and there is uncertainty in this regard,” Mr Sherpao said.

He said that QWP would restore viable and sustainable peace after securing victory in the upcoming general elections and rid the country of corrupt and unscrupulous elements.

Mr Sherpao said that people should initiate accountability of corrupt elements by using their right of vote and unite for the success of true representatives of Pakhtun nation.

He said that conspiracies were being hatched to influence the electoral process. He threatened to launch a movement if the upcoming elections were delayed.

Source: DAWn News