Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday pledged to pursue major infrastructure, aviation and energy projects in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), saying he would take the region’s concerns directly to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, pushing for long-overdue development initiatives.
Addressing a public gathering in G-B, the former prime minister said he would seek federal action to improve road infrastructure, expand Gilgit Airport and address chronic electricity shortages in the region.
Highlighting infrastructural deficits in the region, the PML-N chief said when he arrived in G-B, “The condition of the roads caused me great pain and sadness,” adding that he saw so many potholes, and told people three or four times that seeing the roads made him very sad.
“Once, these roads were built with enthusiasm,” he said, adding that during his tenure, they “started the road from Mansehra, and it was completed very well up to Thakot.” However, he asked why it was not completed up to Gilgit and why it did not continue beyond Gilgit to Chilas.
“I do not want to speak against any party. I do not want to criticise any government, but my heart compels me to ask: you had the opportunity to govern this country, so why did you neglect this region so much?” Nawaz said. He added that seeing the current condition of G-B saddens him. “Why was no attention paid to it? What was the reason? Your attention was focused elsewhere,” he stated.
Further discussing the road project, Nawaz noted that during his tenure the road was extended to Skardu at a cost of nearly Rs50 billion. “This is the right of the people of Gilgit, it is not a favour from me,” he said.
“My heart weeps. Why was all this allowed to happen? Why was the money that should have been spent on you not spent on you? Where was that money spent?” Nawaz questioned, noting that if hospitals were built in the region, it was PML-N that had built them, applying the same to power plants and hydropower projects, along with the Jaglot-Skardu project, all of which he stated were initiated and completed by his party.
The PML-N chief assured the gathering that he would meet with PM Shehbaz and ask him to expand the airport, creating the capacity for jets to land and take-off from the region. Saying that the travel time from Gilgit to Skardu had been cut down to three hours from nine, Nawaz stated that the party had saved the people of Gilgit six hours of travel time. “How many opportunities have we created for you and your children? Fulfilling this was one of our heartfelt aspirations,” he said.
Nawaz said he would tell the prime minister that “20 to 22 hours of load-shedding in winter is not acceptable, and neither is 10 to 12 hours of load-shedding in summer.”