QUETTA - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Monday said his political opponents will have to wait beyond the year 2018 for their turn as the people of Pakistan support progress and not anarchy.
Addressing the launch of the National Health Program in the provincial capital of Balochistan here at the Governor House, he said his government was committed to changing the political culture of the country from that of confrontation to serving the masses.
Nawaz Sharif said they were also committed to providing a transparent and corruption-free system in the country and recalled that not a penny of corruption has been proved against present and earlier two tenures of PML-N rule, which were marked with efficiency and high performance.
He was particularly appreciative of the speech of Balochistan Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri in which he had extended his full support to the PML-N government and warned the political opponents a befitting reply, if they do not desist from conspiracies.
PM Sharif endorsed views of Zehri and said his political opponents need to wait with patience for their turn until 2018, or possibly even beyond that, as the people of Pakistan fully support the pace of progress and development undertaken by the PML-N government.
He said certain elements tried to blame him for corruption and said he has set up the judicial commission to probe the allegations and clear the matter once for all. He said he would continue to serve the masses after being exonerated from all such baseless charges.
Sharif said his government desired to do a lot more for the welfare of the people but all these dreams cannot materialise unless there was economic and political stability and law and order situation was good.
The PM, who arrived here earlier in the day, also inaugurated development projects worth billions of rupees in power, gas and infrastructure sectors in Balochistan.
Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai, Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri, federal and provincial ministers, members of the parliament and senior officials were also present on the occasion.
The prime minister inaugurated the 220 KV Khuzdar Grid Station and 274km Khuzdar-Dadu electricity transmission line which was completed at a cost of Rs7.35 billion. He also inaugurated 227km Loralai-DG Khan electricity transmission line which was completed at a cost of Rs2.731 billion.
The projects were aimed at meeting power demand, improve the voltage profile of system in the province and generate employment opportunities.
Nawaz Shairf inaugurated a project for the supply of gas to Inayatullah Karez Gulistan in Qilla Abdullah district. Under the project, a gas pipeline of 55km will be laid at a cost of Rs571 million.
He also inaugurated a project for the supply of gas to Mastung, Qalat and adjoining areas. Under the project a gas pipeline of 40km will be laid at a cost of Rs840 million.
The prime minister inaugurated the construction of an underpass on Brewary Road at Golimar Chowk in Quetta. The project will be completed at a cost of around Rs1.227 billion by August 2017. He also inaugurated the construction of another underpass on Zarghoon Road in Quetta.
The project will be completed at a cost of Rs628.5 million by May 2017. PM Sharif also inaugurated the construction of a new block at Civil Secretariat in Quetta. The new block is being constructed at a cost of Rs591.139 million.
Earlier, in his speech during the launch of National Health Program (NHP), PM Sharif regretted that amidst the politics of sit-ins and protests the country could not move forward as investors avoid investing funds and industries do not operate at full capacity.
The PM said his government was working on plans to meet the energy needs of the country by investing heavily in projects to generate electricity and natural gas. He said loadshedding has declined significantly and added by the year 2018 it would be a thing of the past.
He said the shortage of natural gas would also end and added that his government would not leave the issue unresolved for the next government. He said all these projects would be completed.
The prime minister mentioning the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, said it would open avenues of economic activity, generate employment and help usher in an era of prosperity and development in the country.
He mentioned the fast pace construction at Gwadar and said several new road links would connect all far off places of the province with the rest of the country.
He said work on motorways was also going ahead at a fast pace and soon Karachi would be linked to Peshawar. He regretted that this should have been done long time back, however his government was working with vigour and zeal to cover the gap.
The prime minister said peace was being restored in Karachi while the operation Zarb-e-Azb was wiping out terrorists from the country.
He mentioned progress in other areas of economy, including the health, education, agriculture and industrial sectors and said the pace of development and progress would continue unabated.
The prime minister earlier launched first phase of NHP in Balochistan. Initially, 76,000 people in Quetta would benefit from the insurance scheme, which would later be expanded to four districts to cater to needs of 178,000 people in Loralai, Quetta, Lasbella and Kech.
He handed over health cards amongst the deserving people, saying his government would continue to serve the masses, despite efforts of his opponents to create instability and hamper development in the country.
The prime minister said the health insurance scheme was launched in Islamabad, aimed at providing quality healthcare to the poorest of the poor across the country. He said the people belonging to low income groups earlier had to spend a huge amount and were forced to spend entire hard earned income on getting medical treatment.
He said that Balochistan was selected for the scheme because its people were very close to his heart. He said Balochistan was the first province, from where the scheme was being launched.
He said the data of health cards recipients has been obtained from Nadra and BISP. He said the federal government would fully cooperate with the provincial government in making the project a success.
Sharif said the objective of the Health Card was serving the masses and he was personally supervising the project so that the teething problems, if any, were removed.
The National Health Insurance scheme has been launched in 15 districts of the country including Azad Kashmir and would be expanded to other areas of the country in phases.
Minister for Health Saira Afzal Tarar said the scheme would provide quality healthcare to people of low income groups in select private and government hospitals, without incurring any cost.
She said the project launched in collaboration with the federal and provincial government would cover a number of ailments and provide free treatment and medication.
Saira said under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif the poor of the country would get a ray of hope and would get good health care. She said earlier a large number of people who could not bear the high cost of medical treatment and had to suffer as they ran from pillar to post for the treatment.