Sajid Hussain Turi urges to connect Kurram with CPEC
Staff Writer
Islamabad: Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and PPP senior leader Sajid Hussain Turi this week demanded that Kurram district be connected with the motorway and China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) by expanding it from Essa Khel to Mir Ali to Kharlachi.
“Any other route if excludes district Kurram shall neither be feasible nor acceptable,” he stressed.
In a statement, Sajid Turi said that Kharlachi border area of Kurram district was currently the busiest commercial centre after Torkham for trade with Afghanistan.
He said that commercial importance of the Kharlachi border was 200 years old which is the easiest, shortest and safest trade route to reach Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.
He said that in the CPEC Western Alignment, the route from Issa Khel through Karak, Banda Daud Shah, and Tall till Ghulam Khan and Kharlachi borders or from Issa Khel to Tall and Mir Ali from where a route to Ghulam Khan and other to Kharlachi should be included.
Turi said that by including these routes in the Western Alignment, districts Hangu, North Waziristan and Kurram could be easily connected to the motorway and CPEC so that people from all these districts and adjoining areas could be benefited from the national projects equally without any discrimination.
The minister said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has already issued several directives regarding connection of Kurram with Motorway and CPEC which need to be implemented.
He urged the National Highway Authority to plan the Western Alignment Route in such a way that the people of all adjoining areas including Tall, Hangu, North Waziristan, and Kurram would benefit equally at the same time.
Turi said that any such project in which the route of the Kharlachi border area of Kurram is not included would be considered against the rights of the people there and would not be acceptable.
The minister said that he had always demanded that it was need of the time to connect all the merged tribal areas with motorways and central national highways so that the process of development could be accelerated and employment opportunities could be created there.
