SHORKOT, Aug 13 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Saturday said politics was not a one-day or five-day
test match as it required sobriety and vision for being all
about public service, not commotion.
Terming politics of an opposition party as `dirty’ and
`theatrical’, he said: “Politics is not a theatre, one-day or test match which creates commotion just for sake of
publicity.”
“Politicking at the container is never called a politics.
The sobriety I talk about requires a vision. It teaches to
think before you speak,” the prime minister remarked addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of Shorkot Khanewal section of M-4 Motorway between Multan and Faisalabad here.
He said he always remained extra carefull in selection of words, contrary to a opposition party which used derogatory language.
It also used improper words during its electioneering in Azad Kashmir elections but people showed maturity and outrightly rejected this `dirty’ politics, he added.
Governor Punjab Malik Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana, Minister for Information Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan Sun Weidong, Parliamentary Secretary Communications Mian Alam Dad Laleka, Chairman National Highway Authority Shahid Ashraf Tarar, Member National Assembly Sahibzada Nazeer Sultan also attended
the ceremony, besides a huge public gathering.
The Chairman NHA briefed the prime minister on 65-kilometre section of Shorkot-Khanewal Motorway that would be completed within 20 months, costing Rs 22 billion and mark the completion of 240-km M-4 Motorway.
This road link would provide a shorter and direct connection
between southern port cities of Karachi and Gwadar with the north of country.
Besides boosting trade, the motorway would reduce transportation cost and time from the textiles hub Faisalabad in Central Punjab to Multan – a major trade centre of Southern Punjab.
The NHA chief said Shorkot-Khanewal section was divided into two packages including Shorkot-Dinpur (31 kms) and Dinpur-Khanewal (34 kms) to ensure its timely completion.
The prime minister said they (PTI) were not getting any support for their much-trumpeted movement because the people needed only the politics for progress, prosperity and alleviation of poverty and literacy.
The prime minister broke ground for the motorway and said
the government had saved Rs 4 billion of public money from this road contract recalling a historic saving of Rs 100 billion
from the contracts of three LNG-based plants.
Cost escalation of projects from Rs 10 billion to Rs 50
billion had been a practice in the past that had now been
abanodoned, he added.
Pointing at a briefing chart, he also informed the
audience about the countrywide network of motorways worth Rs 850 billion, being developed by his government.
He said the previous governments failed to expand
Peshwar-Islamabad-Lahore motorways developed by his
government till 1999.
“Why these (motorways) were not expanded”. Why only
we are taking it forward ? Why no one else thought about
the road infrastructure ? Rather the country was dragged
into darkness, what to talk of roads construction,” he
said referring to the energy crisis, what he also reiterated
to overcome by 2018.
He said contrary to the previous notions of bankruptcy
and failed states about Pakistan, the country’s economy has
taken a turnaround with record high foreign exchange reserves and established currency value.
Even the international institutions and reputed international newspapers and magazines were also acknowledging this positive trend, he added.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said whole country including Balochistan, KPK, Sindh, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan would benefit from the road network, being developed under China Pakistan Economic Corridor, which was an unprecedented gift from China worth US dollar 46 billion.
He said the government was equally serving all sectors
including farmers, industrialists and common man and added
the prices of fertilizers would be further reduced for uplift of the agriculture sector.
Nawaz Sharif said the motorway and GT Road would also
be linked to each other to facilitate the people and for easy
transportation of agricultural produce.
“This is our vision. No one else had such a vision. This
is for you, for the people of Pakistan. This did not start from
here, but from China border,” he said.
He said the power plants were also being developed apace
including the steps being taken to overcome the gas shortage.
The government was not thinking of just for 2018 or next election but it was thinking for next fifty years, he added.
Referring to the development of motorways from across the
country, the prime minister said Gwadar would be made an
international city by developing a port or an airport.
The prime minister said the enemies were not liking these
development projects and prayed to Allah Almighty to protect these from an evil eye.
He directed the NHA to provide Bahawalpur city a link to
motorway.
The M-4 motorway will comprise four interchanges at Din Pur, Makhdoom Pur, Kabeer Wala and Khanewal, besides 16 bridges and 112 underpasses.
Secretary Communication Khalid Masood Chaudhry, in his welcome address, said the Shorkot Khanewal Motorway would be developed as four-lane road and take 20 months to complete.
He said the government has a plan to expand the stretch of
motorways by three times within three years and added that the CPEC would not only change the fate of Pakistan but also bring prosperity in the whole region.
Sahibzada Nazeer Sultan, MNA also thanked the prime minister for launching the project in the area and congratulated over his complete recuperation.
He said the government was executing the prime minister’s
vision of countrywide road networks that would usher a new era of progress in the country. Besides, he also drew prime minister’s attention to some of the issues in his constituency.
