Altaf Hamid Rao.
MUZAFFARABAD/MIRPUR (AJK), (Parliament Times) : The first meeting of the Cabinet Development Committee of the current financial year was held here on Friday. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi was in the chair.
The meeting considered 11 projects of Electricity , Hydel, Communications, Physical Planning and Housing, Health and Information Technology costing over 6 billion rupees out of which 9 projects were approved while two projects were postponed till the next meeting.
The meeting approved the construction of 132 KV grid stations in Samahni and 132 KW in Sahansa, construction of 3.22 MW Nardjiyan Hydel Power Project, Land Record Computerization Phase 2, construction of 62.5 km major highways including 22 km Kail to Tao Buttman Highway in Neelum District, Jandala Pir Gali Road in Bhimber District), Completion of remaining section of KGK Road in Kotli District, Construction of Water Supply Scheme in Sahansa The meeting also approved the upgrading 250 beds to 500 beds in district headquarters hospital in Mirpur.
Addressing the meeting the Prime Minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Niazi directed the concerned officials to intensify the work on the approved developmental projects and no compromise would be made on the quality of the work. He asked the Cabinet Ministers and MLAs to monitor the development projects in their constituencies and send the development plans to the Planning and Development Department in time. The Prime Minister said that the road improvement project from Kohala to Bagh should also be included in the development program. Mechanisms should be put in place to make roads safer and monitor the quality of work. In this regard the Prime Minister has constituted a committee headed by the Minister for communication which includes the Minister for Planning and Development, Secretary Finance, Secretary Works and Secretary Planning and Development. The committee will submit recommendations to the Prime Minister on a roadmap for maintaining the quality of work and making the roads safer. The Prime Minister formed another committee headed by the Chief Secretary to review the delay in Greater Water Supply Schemes in Mirpur, Muzaffarabad, Kotli and Bagh the committee will present its recommendations to the Prime Minister within 15 days.
The Prime Minister said that no attention was paid to maintain the quality of roads by the previous government and funds were distributed unfairly by the PML-N government and pointed out that in the first quarter the PML government spent only 61 percent development budget due to its incompetency while the present government after coming into power has spent 71% of the funds in the first quarter and efforts will be made to use hundred percent development funds in the next quarter. He said that it was the responsibility of the government to provide funds for the development and prosperity of the people of Azad Kashmir and added that the destiny of the people will be changed and there will be a revolution of construction and development in Azad Kashmir. He said the Prime Minister of Pakistan is taking keen interest in the development and prosperity of the people of Azad Kashmir and the historical development package of 500 billion rupees will be implemented in different sectors. The Azad Kashmir Prime Minister said that according to the vision of Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, special measures will be taken for the wellbeing of the downtrodden segment of society to improve their living standard.
The meeting was attended by Senior Cabinet Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas cabinet Ministers Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, Sardar Mohammad Hussain Khan, Sardar Mir Akbar Khan, Chaudhry Mohammad Akhlaq, Chaudhry Mohammad Rashid, Azhar Sadiq, Dewan Ali Khan Chughtai, Nisar Ansar Abdali, Zafar Iqbal Malik and Ali. Shaan Soni, Abdul Majid Khan, Akmal Hussain Sargala, Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, Chief Secretary Shakeel Qadir Khan, Secretaries to the Government and other concerned officials.
