PESHAWAR - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has lamented the obstruction in the provision of security clearance and NOC to Chinese investors by the federal government and asked the authorities to approach the concerned quarters for immediate security clearance of the Chinese investors coming to the province.

He would also personally talk to the federal government in this regard, he added. He hoped accommodative response for honouring the MoUs under CPEC and non-CPEC projects in the province. He said the development of KP would directly lead to prosperity of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and the entire country.

He was chairing a meeting on Monday to review the progress on MoUs under KP-China Investment Plan. The meeting was attended by Adviser to CM on Communication and Works Akbar Ayub, Special Assistant to CM Abdul Munim Khan, Chairman EZDMC Ghulam Dastagir, Chief Secretary Abid Saeed, concerned administrative secretaries and other relevant officials.

Khattak asked the concerned authorities to finalise the mega residential projects of Peshawar Model Town and Karnal Sher CPEC City and to plan at least one mega housing society at every district level in the province. He underlined the need for ensuring adequate facilities of security, health, hygiene and other civic amenities under the safe city and small city policies of the provincial government.

He directed to put on ground the proposed 17 industrial zones in the province and plan the inauguration of three mega zones: Rashakai Nowshera, Hattar Haripur and Dera Ismail Khan under CPEC by next month. He also directed for completion of 225MW thermal power houses in each industrial zone so that the electricity produced could be given to the industries in the three zones.

All the three industrial zones would be interlinked through a railway cargo system, he added. He said that the PSDP has approved the circular railway track connecting six districts starting from Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Charsadda, Swabi and Malakand and the rail track from Peshawar to DI Khan.

The CM directed to start preliminary work on circular train costing Rs1.5 billion and rail cargo by December. He said that provincial government could also look to allow commercial trains on various routes after completion of the rail network and railway lines. He further asked to settle the land acquisition issues of road and rail projects as early as possible.

Khattak also underlined the need for early completion of the bypass and ring roads around big cities including Abbottabad and Haripur so that the long journeys in the province could be made more comfortable and less time-consuming. He also reviewed the progress on MoUs signed with foreign investment in education, health, tourism, agriculture, mines, minerals, energy, transport and other sectors.

He also approved the maps and designs of new Peshawar bus stand and CPEC tower as well as directed for starting practical work on it as soon as possible.

CM VOWS TO UPHOLD MERIT

Chief Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak on Monday reaffirmed his government’s commitment of adherence to merit and ensuring transparency in all public dealings.

His government would ensure that everything is done transparently, he said while presiding over a meeting regarding recruitment of clerks. “No expediency would ever hinder the process of transparency”, he said, adding that his government made recruitments through NTS for the purpose. “It is not fair that certain employees want regularisation and promotion without merit”, he said.

The chief minister said that his government wanted to invest in human resource development instead of constructing bridges and roads. Bridges and roads are need driven but human resource development is the basic requirement for real development.

His government had record legislations for rectifying weaknesses in education and health sectors. The ultimate objective was to strengthen institutions and rectify the system making it more transparent for efficient delivery, he said.

Khattak said that it was unfortunate that the people were recruited in the past in an irregular way. Corruption and irregularities were conspicuous in the transfers and recruitments in the past but his government would not allow such practice adding that any wrong step had a trickledown effect and therefore the deserving and people have to bear the cost of these wrongs, he said.

He said that the blind approach for recruitment saturated institutions and that was also a problem for the government and the people because the inefficient could not deliver and the allied problem was that the inefficient also indulged in unlawful and corrupt practices. The better way is to show the corrupt and inefficient the door, he said.

The chief minister said that it was also strange that when recruited people were given chance to sit in examinations to prove their abilities, they normally did not but try to skip the opportunities. He said that his government would never allow this practice.