PESHAWAR: Mahmood Khan, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), paid a day-long visit to District Swat, where he inaugurated different development projects.
Projects included hostel, lecture theatres, laboratories, auditorium and other facilities in Saidu Medical College, which were completed at the cost of Rs. 1.1 billion.
He also inaugurated the recently installed Cath lab and Regional Blood Centre at Saidu Teaching Hospital, which was completed at a cumulative cost of Rs. 410 million. The Chief Minister of KPK, on occasion, performed the ground-breaking ceremony of hospital block, college block and boundary wall of Saidu College of Dentistry, which would be completed at an evaluated cost of Rs. 710 million.
He said that the construction of a dental college in Swat was undoubtedly a historic milestone because it was a long-standing demand of the people of Malakand, speaking during a ceremony conducted at Saidu Medical College in this regard.
This college, he claimed, would assist the people of the whole Malakand division. He said that the current administration raised medical college seats from 1300 to 1750. According to Mahmood Khan, the Sehat Card Plus scheme had been made more comprehensive by including free treatment for kidney problems. Liver transplants, cancer treatment, and free OPD services, on the other hand, will be included in the near future.
Highlighting the development strategy of his government, he claimed that previous chief ministers concentrated only on their respective districts. In contrast, his government was working for the uniform development of the whole province, including Newly Merged Tribal areas.
Chief Minister of KPK added that medical colleges would also be established in Charsadda, Buner, Kurram, Dir, Mansehra, and other districts of the province to provide medical education opportunities to people in their own districts. He said that commitments made to the people were being fulfilled one by one, adding that tourist activities were in full swing in the province due to policies of the incumbent government for promoting the tourism industry in the province.
He noted that 2.7 million domestic and foreign tourists visited Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's tourist sites in the previous season, demonstrating the provincial government's extraordinary measures in this regard, adding that the provincial government collected Rs. Sixty-six billion during the season. He went on to say that work was underway on a long-term strategy to address the challenges plaguing the militancy-plagued area of Swat, which, once completed, would provide an end-to-end answer to the problems that the Swat people were facing.
Provincial Minister Mohibullah Khan, Members Provincial Assembly Fazal Hakim Khan, Azizullah Garan, Mian Sharafat and others were also present on occasion.
Earlier, addressing the ceremony, Dr Israr ul Haq, Chief Executive Officer, Saidu Group of Hospital and Dr Muhammad Tariq, Project-Director, Saidu Dental College, highlighted the institution's performance and future course of action.