After several local celebrities supported and raised funds for the Diamer-Bhasha dam fund, R&B singer and Grammy award-winning Akon is now lending support to the cause. Akon spoke out in a video, saying: “This is a special message to all Pakistanis around the world, according to a United Nations report, water resources in the country will dry up by 2025, so I’m asking all Pakistanis living in the country and overseas to support the Diamer and Bhasha dam. So we can mobilise Pakistan into a better future.” The singer will be arriving in Karachi and Lahore to perform concerts between April 26 to 29. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar has paid close attention to the issue of water scarcity and had ordered the creation of the Dam Fund in July last year ? a fund that appeals to the general public and overseas Pakistanis for donations for the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam. The CJP’s initiative was later supported by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Published in Daily Times, January 16th 2019.