Havelian-Thakot section of Hazara Motorway under CPEC inaugurated

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan formally inaugurated Havelian-Thakot section of Hazara Motorway on Tuesday.

The 118 Kilometer long Havelian-Thakot Motorway project has been completed in 42 months period with a total cost of Rs.133 billion under CPEC project. With starting point at Havelian, the motorway connects Abbottabad, Mansehra, Shinkiari and Thakot.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony as Chief Guest, Mahmood Khan termed the project as a vital importance for the development of entire region and said that it will boost tourism and trade activities in the area, create job opportunities and will provide quality communication facilities to the local people. He expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Federal Minister for Communication Murad Saeed for taking personal interest in the timely completion of Havelian-Thakot Motorway.

Mahmood Khan revealed that in the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of CPEC held in Islamabad recently, some mega developmental schemes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been included in CPEC projects which include Peshawar-DI Khan Motorway, Chashma Right Bank lift Canal Project, Swat Motorway Phase-II and four hydel power projects adding that such mega developmental schemes of the province were never included in the CPEC project during the tenure of the previous federal government which was a sheer injustice with the province.

Responding to the allegations of opposition about Swat Motorway Phase-II, the Chief Minister clarified that no funds of any other project have been diverted to Swat Motorway adding that under the CPEC project, funds of any particular project cannot be diverted to any other project. He further clarified that allegations of the opposition of diverting funds of Chakdara Chitral road to Swat Motorway Phase-II were baseless, contrary to facts and totally misleading.

“Hazra and Malakand Divisions have huge potentials of tourism and the present government will utilize all the available resources to develop infrastructure in these areas to boost tourism activities with the aim to create maximum employment opportunities for the people”, Mahmood Khan remarked and added that in order to facilitate easy access to tourists destinations in Malakand division, Rashakai-Chakdara Motorway has been completed in the first Phase whereas Chakdara Swat Motorway will be constructed in the next phase.

Mahmood Khan reiterated his resolve to develop all the areas of the province and said that there would be no injustice with any area of the province with regard to developmental schemes and all the areas including the Newly Merged Districts will be developed in uniform manner.

Earlier, the Chief Minister formally inaugurated the Havelian-Thakot Motorway by unveiling a plaque. The Chief Minister was given a detailed briefing about the salient feature of the project.

Besides elected public representatives and elders of Hazara division, high ups of National Highway Authority, Divisional and District Administration were also present on the occasion.