Protesters demand start of work on four stalled projects

AYUN: People of Ayun, Kalash valleys and nearby areas held a protest gathering in Ayun Junali against the delay in launch of work by the PTI government on four key projects even after the passage of many years.

The protest was arranged by Muslim and Kalash Defence Council demanding start of work without further delay on the construction of the Ayun-Kalash valleys road, establishment of Chitral University on the land purchased at Saeedabad, expeditious completion of work on Ayun Govt Degree Colleges for Girls and restoration of the gas plant project.

Those who spoke on the occasion included Qazi Saleh Nizam, Jandullah Khan, Asif Raza, Sarwar Kamal Advocate, Inayatullah Aseer, Wajih Uddin, Nusrat Azad, Abdul Majeed Qureshi, Izhar Dastagir, Milat Gul Kalash and Qazi Muhammad Ibad.

They said in early 2018, an amount of 4.5 billion rupees had been approved by the then federal government for the Kalash valleys road and tenders had also been floated. But the same year after the general elections there was a new government in the central that put the project in the doldrums.

The chief minister’s special assistant Wazirzada announced on many occasions that work on the road would be started soon but over three years into the tenure of the PTI government there is no progress.

About the Chitral University campus, the speakers said that five years back after a feasibility study 166 kanals of land was purchased at Saeedabad but now people of Seenlasht were being displaced to set up the university there.

They said instead of spending huge amounts on the acquisition of land for the university at Seenlasht the government should construct the campus at Saeedabad.

The speakers also came down hard on the government for its discriminatory attitude towards the people of Drosh and Ayun as it abandoned the gas plant projects for the two town.–Muhkam Uddin Ayuni