PTI leader ridicules religious parties for opposing contract to AKRSP

BOONI, Nov 17: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chitral president Abdul Lateef here on Monday ridiculed two religio-political parties in Chitral for running a campaign against the award of the construction of small hydel power projects in Chitral to the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP). Addressing a convention of the party workers at Babar House in Booni, the PTI president said the KP government had floated tenders for the award of the contracts for the powerhouses in a number of districts and selected the AKRSP for Chitral on the basis of its expertise in the valley. He said Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Chitral had started a smear campaign against the award of the contract to the AKRSP by giving it a sectarian twist in order to provoke the sentiment of the people and achieve their own interests. He said the religious parties had their own vested interest and always worked against the progress and development of the area and tried to pitch the people of Chitral against each other in the name of religion. The PTI leader said funds for the hydropower projects were being provided by the government under the poverty alleviation programme and the contracts had been awarded purely on merit. He said that the provincial government would never come under any pressure and would get the projects completed in order to end power crisis in Chitral. Speaking on the occasion, PTI leader Rehmat Ghazi criticized MPA Sardar Hussain for taking credit of different development projects launched by the provincial government including the approval of Rs.550 million for the upgradation of the tehsil headquarters hospital Booni. About 100 to 150 officer-bearers from all parts of Chitral attended the meeting, which was called to make arrangements for the participation in the PTI’s public meeting to be held in Islamabad on November 30. The meeting decided that each head of the party at the UC level would arrange at least two vehicles load of people to take part in the public gathering. The heads of the PTI at the UC level would have to bear the expenditures of the transportation of the workers to Islamabad and back from their own pockets and those failing to meet the target would be removed form their posts. Mr Rehmat Ghazi said that he would lead a biggest convoy of workers from his constituency of upper Chitral to Islamabad.]]>