SWABI - Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti has announced launching of various projects in the district which is expected to cost about Rs6 billion. The chief minister visited the district on Saturday and addressed a public gathering in the premises of the Shahmansoor hospital. On the occasion tight security arrangements had been made and the district administration had also imposed section 144 of CrPC just two days before his visit. The Swabi-Jahangira road remained closed for all kinds of traffic till the concluding of his visit, and it was the first time in the history of the district that the women in a large number also participated in a public gathering. The Chief Minister announced upgradation of Shahmansoor hospital and added that the District Headquarters Hospital would be remained intact. He said that construction of the buildings for two new created tehsils, Topi and Razaar, would be commenced very soon. The former was upgraded to tehsil level by the ex-Muttahidda Majlis-i-Amal government and the latter by the existing ANP government. The construction of the buildings of the two tehsils would cost Rs380 millions, he said. He also said that 200-kanal land had been procured for the construction of Swabi judicial lock up and the fund for its building had also sanctioned by the government. However, he did not unveil the amount. The chief minister announced Rs 150 million for the elevation of Civil Hospital, Topi, and Rs150 million for the provision of five ambulances to the DHQ and Shahmansoor hospitals. Similarly, he said that the elevation of Kalu Khan Hospital in Razaar tehsil would cost Rs150 million. The Zaida and Jhanda basic health units have been upgraded to the Rural Health Centres but he did not mention the estimated cost. However, he said that the provision of facilities to Rural Health Centre, Tordher, and Sheikh Jana was expected to cost Rs110 million. The Swabi Press Club would also be constructed, said the Chief Minister. Former Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani had also pledged the construction of the same club when he visited the district in February 2007. Mr Hoti also declared that an Express Road would be constructed from Hassanabdal to Mansehra, which would resolve the traffic problems of the Haraza region. The campus of the Khan Abdul Wali University, Mardan, would be opened in the district in the current year and the government has also planned to build an entertainment park in the Hund region, at the brink of Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway. A boy college for the upper Gadoon Amazai was also announced and the Zaida Inter college has been upgraded to the degree level. We have planned to construct 1,000 new schools next year in the province and among them 60 would be given to Swabi, he said. To irrigate the barren land of the district, it has been decided to initiate left-irrigation scheme from the Pehur High Level Canal. This scheme is expected to irrigate the infertile land of Maina, Jhanda and other various regions in the district, he added. The estimated cost of the Swabi Bypass road is Rs550 million and it has been named by the party heavyweights as Bacha Khan bypass, he said, adding that the Amangari Road at the border of Swabi district and Mardan was costing Rs 110 million. A road starts from Chakdara and passing thorough Mardan and Swabi would cost Rs 880 million while the estimated cost of Rs350 million required for Karnal Sher Interchange to be acquired from the federal government, he added. In the tobacco cess he said that the government gave Rs160 million when they assumed power, Rs180 in the following year and in June this year they would give Rs 220 million. Provincial minister for information Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the government was struggling to eradicate the menace of terrorism from the country. He claimed due to their efforts Malakand division has been cleared from the terrorists and the education institutions have been opened there. Zar Shaid Khan, NWFP Minister for Ushr and Zakat, presented the charter of demands while education minister Sardar Hussain Babak, advisor to the Chief Minister Mukhtiar Khan and MNAs and MPAs of the party attended the meeting.