NOWSHERA: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has said his government is spending Rs13 billion to construct spurs at the right and left banks of the River Kabul to protect Peshawar valley from future floods.

The Peshawar valley, particularly Nowshera and Charsadda, suffered huge devastation in the previous floods.

The chief minister said the previous governments turned a blind eye to the scale of devastation that took precious human lives and damaged movable and unmovable properties of the hapless people.

Addressing a public meeting at Pirpiai, Nowshera, he stated that the prime minister should convene a meeting of the leadership of all political parties to convince them about his commitment to the province on the CPEC.

Mr Khattak said the province would have three industrial estates having diversified industrial units and its own power generation stations, adding this would create jobs and contribute to the overall economic development of the province.

He said his government ensured transparent governance and prioritised education and health sectors` development, upheld merit, discouraged corruption, inefficiency and political meddling in the state institutions, adding his government also reformed the police system that had started giving result s.

The chief minister said that previously the rulers used police and state machinery against political opponents for their own interest that polluted the entire system of governance. He said no state could develop when there was political interference and where there was no justice and no equal rights to all segments of society. He said his government had an agenda for development and for checking corruption and dishonesty.

The chief minister asked the people to pay taxes because state apparatus was run on taxation.

Mr Khattak asked the people to be aware of the hidden agenda of anti-state elements, adding the political parties which ruled the KP province in the past had only accumulated wealth through corrupt practices. He said that he needed able and efficient people for running the affairs of his province efficiently.

He assured that he would welcome the efficient and able people to come on merit and join the public sector institutions in the province. Correspondent