PM Inaugurates 293 KM Hakla-DI Khan Motorway

Islamabad: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday inaugurated 293 KM Hakla-DI Khan Motorway M 14, which is an important segment of the Western route of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The Motorway has 36 bridges, 119 underpasses, and 33 flyovers. The road has reduced the distance between DI Khan and Islamabad significantly and the seven-hour drive between the two cities has now been reduced to only three hours. The road will transform DI Khan into a business center besides linking South Punjab and Baluchistan easing out the supply of goods and services in the different parts of the country. The boost of economic activities would also raise the living standard of the people besides providing jobs.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony the premier said that the incumbent government is constructing roads at a cost much less than the previous governments who plundered around Rs1000 billion out of the construction of roads in different areas and he struggled for the last 25 years in this regard. He said, “At least an amount of 1,000 billion rupees was plundered in road projects. We have been striving for elimination of corruption for the last 25 years. Our struggle will benefit the nation”. The PM said that in the past the development of infrastructure was confined to the surroundings of the GT Road but now the government is ensuring balance allocation of funds to the length and breadth of the country and uplift of Baluchistan is the top priority of his government. He added, "The government has prioritized the projects according to their impact on the livelihood of the people of Balochistan. Infrastructural development, development in agriculture, fisheries, power sector and subsidy on basic amenities, including Ehsaas programs are gradually gaining pace," Previously some days before, PM has also initiated the Pak-China Business Investment Forum.

The Prime Minister in his speech also said that no country can make progress until a uniform process of development is ensured throughout the country. He said, “But a country achieves progress if there is uniform development across its length and breadth. It is made possible by long-term planning like China, which has planned 30 years ahead, the future planning will envisage a roadmap towards progress, embracing all parts of Pakistan,”. The PM also highlighted that the selective development in the issue of the third world countries like Pakistan which promotes further the developed areas and leaves the backward areas in poverty. He continued, “If a few areas are developed, the people living there will become rich, leaving behind the people in the backward areas in poverty”. He once again maintained that corruption is the biggest problem of Pakistan and in the past, the rulers did not pay any heed to the development of the country. He said, “Roads were constructed for making money. How it comes that roads during 2013 were constructed costly and now being completed at the lower costs,” he wondered. “About Rs1,000 billion had gone into the pockets of the corrupt, it happened with a poor nation,”. The PM said that the countries develop with long-term planning like china and we also need to undergo the long-term planning for the development of the country.