Work on Express Highway in Swat to begin shortly

[Salman]

MINGORA: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar on Thursday said work on Express Highway to link Swat with the motorway through Karnal Sher Khan Interchange would begin before the end of the current year.

He was speaking at the ceremony organised here to formally inaugurate Cadet College, Swat in Waliabad area here.

The college was established on the directions of army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on April 21, 2010, where the first batch was enrolled in August 2011 and had passed out after completion of higher secondary school certificate in 2013.

Currently, second and third batches are enrolled at the college.

The speaker said peace in Swat had been restored after army, law-enforcement agencies and the people rendered great scarifies.

He said the provincial government had launched many projects to bring prosperity to Swat valley.

“The government will begin work on Express Highway before the end of this year to bring development to Swat. Under a mega project, Swat will be linked to the motorway via the Karnal Sher Khan Interchange in Swabi. After completion of work on Express Highway, the journey between Peshawar and Swat will reduce to one and a half hours,” he said.

Mr Qaisar said Swat was the centre of tourism and its beautiful places attracted tourists.

He said the provincial government was working on a plan to repair Kalam Road, which was in bad shape to the misery of local residents.

The speaker said the government would not disappoint the residents of Swat, who had given mandate to PTI in the May 11 general elections to the rule the province.

He said the government was committed to increasing the number of hydel power generation projects in Swat so that the area could have own electric system.

About suspension of Nato supplies through Peshawar, Mr Qaisar said the provincial government would take steps in this respect in line with the Constitution.

“We will take every possible step to ensure the sovereignty of the country.

Earlier, addressing the college’s inauguration ceremony, the speaker said during militancy, educational institutions were targeted in Swat district.

He said peace had returned to Swat due to the sacrifices of the army personnel, local people, police and other security official.

Mr Qaisar said establishment of Cadet College, Swat was a symbol of pride for Malakand division, especially for people of Swat.

He said the provincial government’s top priority was to ensure provision of quality education to everyone in the province and that extremism could be defeated by promoting education.

“The PTI government wants to impart quality education to the people across the province. It will release necessary funds to Cadet College, Swat without delay,” he said.

Before the participants, Principal of Cadet College Air Cadre ® Tayyab N Akhtar presented progress report of the college and said the college was in development and expansion phase and it was likely to enrol students in grades 7 to 10 from 2015 and onwards.

Later, the chief guest distributed shields among seven top position holders of Cadet College, Swat, while Brigadier Zahid Hussain presented a souvenir to the speaker.