Ex-MNA slams shelving of Chitral’s mega projects
CHITRAL: Former Chitral MNA Shahzada Iftikharuddin has criticised the federal government for removing the region’s key development projects from the annual development programme of the current financial year.
Mr Iftikharuddin told Dawn that the dropped projects, which were approved by the PML-N government, belonged to road, communication, education and energy sectors.
He said budgetary allocations were made for some of those projects. The former lawmaker said the dropping of ADP projects had sent shock waves through the residents of Chitral.
He said the PML-N government had spent a large sum of funds in the district to complete work on Lowari tunnel and Golen Gol hydropower project.
Mr Iftikharuddin said the last government had initiated work on the Rs25 billion worth of 212km Shandur-Gilgit Road but the current government was scraped the project for the current fiscal upsetting the residents of the district, which had one-fifth of the province’s total area and was an alternate route for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
He also regretted the dropping of the Rs16 billion Oveer-Shagrom Terich Road project and said the initiative was meant to promote mountain tourism in the district.
“Under the plans, the proposed road is to pass through the foothold of more than 100 peaks of Hindukush system of mountains, including its highest peak of Terich Mir,” he said.
Mr Iftikharuddin said it was unfortunate that the federal government had shelved the Rs5 billion project for the laying of power transmission line in Chitral and setting up grid stations in the far-flung areas of Kagh Lusht, Garam Chashma and Gang Gahirait.
He said although the Golen Gol power station could electrify all villages of Chitral, its transmission was the problem for which a comprehensive plan was made to lay high-density transmission lines and install 600transformers.
“The shelving of this important power project means that the extra electricity produced by the Golen Gol power station will go to waste,” he said adding that 36MW electricity was specified for Chitral district.
The former lawmaker also criticised the government for dropping the Rs3 billion University of Chitral project and said the move would harm the cause of education in the district.
What a sad reading Shahpar makes. He thinks that going to a University is equivalent to education. Anyone who had visited Chitral in the past was impressed by the level of its education at a time when its literacy levels were low. Looking at its present day leadership with its divisiveness, shortsightedness and poor values one can see that in Shahpars writings. Today our level of literacy is high but education one would not like to comment on. In the period Shahpar mentions besides Shahzada Mohiuddin Chitral also had Mrs Bhutto, Ghafoor Shah, Maulana Rahim and Maulana Akbar represented Chitral in the Assemblies. All contributed towards the improvement of life in Chitral for its inhabitants. Shahpar perhaps does not remember that when this experiment with democracy began in the eighties, Arkari did not have a road and people had to carry wheat for miles to reach it, Karimabad valley had barely any roads, Golane, Rech, Khot, Terich, Parsan, Melp, Domel, Biyoli, Jingiret and Urtsun had no roads to name a few. Valleys had to be connected and over 72 bridges built for that. Wheat use to be imported and had to be stored in different valleys and godowns built, School building barely existed, NGOs which were to play a major role in its development could not even find an office in the town because of opposition. These were some of the problems of Chitral in those days.Despite the fact that you had one MNA and two MPAS Chitral was able to address many of its problems. It remains backward because after partition it has remained a neglected part of KP because it simply does not fit into the political equation of the province. In these difficult circumstances its leadership played a very good role to defend and promote its interest. Let see the leaders of digital age doing that. The development took place because of special grant in aids that they were able to get and not through regular ADPs. Even in education the leadership of the time despite receiving education in the Chitral Schools could read and write better English than the products of the digital age. Above all they were well respected outside in political circles and had a good networking which they used for Chitrals advantage
Whats wrong Mr Shahpar if the Ex MNA points out that projects that were initiated have been dropped. This is the only way that a remote and backward district like Chitral will secure funds. Eternal vigilance. None of the areas where big hydro projects are constructed get electricity which is transported to the national grid. Chitral Town was an exception and it got it because of the efforts of its its representative. During the entire PPP tenure barely any work was done on the Lowari tunnel because the funds got diverted to Multan. If the last government got the funds lets acknowledge it as we acknowledge the contribution of General Musharaf’s government and will do of Imran Khan when he does something worthwhile. According to Mr Shahpar if we elect a highly educated person he is dismissed as a Shahzadgan and if we elect a mullah he is dismissed as unrepresentative of the digital age. Its the right of our people to elect whom we like and then at the end of their five years decide whether they did well or otherwise but criticing on racial grounds smacks of racialism more than anything else
True – why cant we elect an educated person who has leadership capability? The generation senior to us elected Elder Shahzada for 2 decades and look where we are? Does anyone attribute any development project of Chitral to elder shahzada? He completely ruined our district and yet we kept voting for him & even today people are afraid of saying this! His Son is as useless as he was and it is right time we realize this. We have to give up the Slavery and Naukar mindset & show some independence and love towards our Chitral.
some of the people like Shahpar have not come out of inferiority complex yet, thats why they criticize in this way, we all should be fair while commenting.
Name calling won’t help the cause if you are interested in resolving the impending issues we face. It is unfair to discredit the Ex-MNA as such from all the projects you have mentioned up there. We all know the system how it works in Pakistan. If the then elected leader would have been against these projects he could have stopped work in progress by one pretext or the other but he didn’t. keeping aside our political affiliations, if we fairly assess the tenure of our Ex-MNA; you would agree with me on this that he was by far the most transparent of them all. Let’s not forget the University of Chitral if we have to count the mega projects in numbers. It was our bad luck that his party got only one seat in the NA still what he did for Chitral with his tactful diplomacy during those five years; is commendable. Let’s be fair-not be biased.
Thank you,
Saif.
I think you need to catch up on facts before witting anything.. UOC was and is a project by Provincial government and our MNA had nothing, i repeat, nothing to do with it!
Golen Gol was a project by PPP govt and was completed as scheduled – 0 credit by our Ex MNA
Lawari Tunnel was a Musharraf project after our Ex-MNA’s father failed to get funds for the project for decades. Was completed as scheduled – maybe 10% credit can be given to our EX MNA
Can our Ex-MNA name a single project initiated and completed during his 5 year tenure? Shandur-Chitral road is a demand since 2000 and Ex MNA has been claiming that in 5 years he only succeeded in getting the project on budget which is now scrapped. It is useless to talk about our current MNA who is a complete lost case and it is shameful that in this digital age we have elected an guy who can only yell.
I think the people of Chitral need serious introspection in why we only have incompetent Shahzadgans or Moulanas and why we cant find a true leader who can help us develop our country?? It is high time we get out of this decades old obsession with Shahzadgans and Moulanas and enter a digital age with better leaders.