Former prime minister and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday lamented the lack of development in Gilgit-Baltistan, as he made a brief visit to the region ahead of elections scheduled for June 7.
General elections in GB are scheduled for Sunday, after a four-month delay attributed to harsh winter weather.
“I am speaking to you after many years. Isn’t that the case? Perhaps you have forgotten me,” Nawaz said while addressing the public in Gilgit, prompting roaring chants in his support.
Noting that he was fond of mountains, Nawaz stressed he “wholeheartedly loved” GB.
“When I love the area from my heart, then why would I not love the people from my heart? You live in my heart,” he quipped. The PML-N chief then went on to lament the lack of development in the region.
“When I saw the condition of the roads after exiting the airport, I cannot even describe it. It hurt me immensely. Where is the Gilgit that I used to know?” he said.
“My heart cries on why this was allowed, why the money that should have been spent on you all was not done so,” Nawaz remarked.
Noting there were “so many potholes”, Nawaz recalled that the PML-N had in the past worked on constructing roads and asked why the project was not extended to Gilgit as originally planned.
“I do not want to speak against any party or government, but my heart urges me to ask them that you got the chance to serve this country, then why did you ignore this area?” the ex-premier asked.
He added that the PML-N did not seek votes by criticising other parties, but rather based on the work it did.
“The road that I had started was not built up to here, it should have been and then built further till Khunjerab,” he said, highlighting that building the road till Skardu had cost Rs50 billion.
“It is the right of the people of GB, not a favour that I am doing to you,” he added. The ex-premier highlighted that the PML-N government had constructed hospitals, power plants and hydel power plants.
“Tell me if any other party has even placed a brick here,” he jibed, with supporters responding in the negative.
“It saddens me that the airport has remained the same as it was in my tenure,” Nawaz said, pointing out that it had not been expanded and the air traffic to the tourist hotspot had not increased.
The PML-N president then assured the GB residents that he would hold a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and ask him to expand the airport so that commercial jets could operate there.
Flaunting the shortened commute time from Gilgit to Skardu, Nawaz said, “We reduced a nine-hour journey to three hours, saving you six hours, making things easy for your kids and families.”
The former premier lamented, “Projects are launched here but they are never seen completed.”
