KARACHI: President General Pervez Musharraf will be inaugurating a signal-free corridor from SITE to the Karachi airport next month.
The president announced this during a ceremony at Quaid-e-Azam’s mazaar Monday. He said that new dams, canals, roads, airports, brick-lined canals, and Gwadar Port had been completed, and more mega projects would be completed in the next two years. “In Karachi alone, one dozen flyovers and underpasses are under construction,” he said.
He declared that the singular achievement of his government during the past seven years was the “turn-around of the economy” which, he claimed, was in a bad shape when he assumed power in 1999. GDP growth, per capita income and exports have doubled during this period. Direct foreign investment, tax collection, remittances and development expenditure have increased manifold.
Commenting on the face-lift of the Quaid’s mausoleum and the construction of a garden, the president said he had pledged to convert this national monument into a splendid place and to beautify its exterior. The mausoleum’s premises have been converted into a garden.
He said that the government had prepared a comprehensive programme to promote primary, secondary, higher and technical education. The government wants to give equal opportunities to all in accordance with the vision of the father of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz urged people to join hands with the government in order to make Pakistan “a stronger, better and developed country as envisioned by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.’’
At a brief address at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral during mass, the prime minister said that the government was promoting interfaith harmony in the country as was propagated by Jinnah. During a programme telecast by the state-run television network, Aziz said that the government was taking all decisions with honesty and sincerity, keeping the national interest supreme.
Visiting Bin Qasim Park, Clifton, late Sunday night, Aziz lauded the efforts of the Sindh government for recovering land from encroachers. app