KARAK: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Company Limited and Khushal Khan Khattak University, Karak, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday to establish academia-industry linkage.

The MoU was signed by the gas company`s chief executive officer Raziuddin and the varsity`s vicechancellor Prof Mohammad Ibrahim Khattak during a ceremony at the company`s office in Hayatabad, Peshawar, according a statement issued by the university administra-tion here.

Both the sides agreed on cooperation in the fields of research, technology, internships, training and exchange of software.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Raziuddin said that his organisation would extend maximum support to the university in the agreed areas.

He said that the company had planned toincrease the daily production of oil from 50,000 barrels to 200,000 barrels a day in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He added that production of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) would also be increased from 500 tons to 2,000 tons a dayin the province.

Prof Ibrahim Khattak said that no nation could make progress until its human resource was technically developed.

CONDEMNED: District president of Khattak Ittehad and councillor, Maulana Mirzageem, has held theelected representatives of Karak responsible for shifting of the oil refinery and industrial estate from the district to other areas of the province.

He was speaking at the launching ceremony of Islamic books centre here on Thursday.

He recalled that MPA Gul Sahib Khan had promised with the Khattak tribe about two and a half years ago that nobody would be given permission to shift the project of oil refinery from Karak, but he could not keep his words.

He said that the announcement by Chief Minister Pervaz Khattak that the oil refinery would be established in Kohat district showed the inefficiency of elected leadership of Karak district.

He warned that they would organise aforcefulprotestif the provincial government did not revise its decision on the oil refinery.