ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday said that change is not possible without prolonged struggle, the country’s economic turnaround had brought down the curtains on bad days and heralded the time for economic growth, wealth creation and jobs for youth.

“I believe, we have gone through the worst time. Insha Allah (God willing), in the coming days, Pakistan’s growth will not be turbulent with up and down cycles. Pakistan will start its journey from when it was fourth largest economy in Asia in 1968 after Japan, China and India,” he said addressing the groundbreaking ceremony of Lodhran-Multan road.

The 62-kilometer North-Bound section of N-5 will connect three district of Multan, Lodhran and Bahawalpur. The project will complete in two years costing around Rs 6.8 billion.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Communications Minister Murad Saeed, Special Assistant to PM Malik Amir Dogar and parliamentarians from South Punjab attended the event.

The prime minister, who earlier unveiled the plaque to launch work on two-lane road, said the incumbent government had constructed three times more road comparing the previous one which used to known only for constructing the roads.

He said within days of assuming the government, the opposition and media started questioning the Naya Pakistan and also made notions about government’s failure.

He said the government also faced criticism from the opposition which were poised to topple the government unless their leaders were given NRO.

“My own people had to face tough time. The media also gave an impression as Naya Pakistan can emerge by switching a button,” he said.

The prime minister said it always took time to change the status quo as the mafias resisted any such movement to protect their interests. Similarly, the opposition also yearned for the government’s failure to protect their laundered money and properties abroad.

He said rule of law was the only factor behind the nations’ success as all the developed countries had no room for mafias and everyone was accountable before law.

He said Pakistan sailed through the COVID situation owing to the government’s prudent policies contrary to India, despite the fact that both the countries had almost identical population density and weather conditions.

He said government took a year to stabilize the economy and in second year it was hit by pandemic but it managed well by maintaining a balance between the lives and livelihood.

Now, the prime minster said as the economy had made a turnaround, the government was focusing the agriculture sector by ensuing timely and reasonable payments of crops to the farmers who also got bumper crop this year.

Moreover, the government was about to announce a special package for the farmers besides promoting industrial sector through special economic zones to boost exports.

Similarly, he said the IT sector was also under the government’s focus to exploit immense potential as India was earning around $80 billion from IT exports.

Imran Khan said the construction of 10 dams was in progress to produce clean energy and utilize the 50,000MW potential of hydropower. For the first time, massive scale plantation was being made under Ten Billion Tree Tsunami and new national parks being developed, he added.

He said as the COVID-19 curve was on downward trend particularly after mass vaccination, the government would make efforts to uplift the tourism sector which had the potential to increase foreign reserves remarkably.

Referring to the government’s incentives for construction sector, the prime minister said banks had received demand of Rs 60 billion loans for low-cost houses from the people who could never imagine to own a house.

He said the government was also mulling to introduce finance houses other than banks to exclusively disburse housing loans.

In his address, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the Lodhran-Multan road would benefit three districts and connect two divisions of Multan and Bahawalpur.

He said the South Punjab Secretariat was an extraordinary step that would go a long way to strengthen the federation by addressing the political imbalance.

He said just like the long term policy of construction of dams in the country, the South Punjab Secretariat would also a step towards balanced political mapping which no other government could do.

He said in the upcoming Public Sector Development Program, the South Punjab would have its separate share.

Communications Minister Murad Saeed said beside this road, the PSDP allocation has also been made for Lodhran-Multan motorway. Moreover, work on Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway would start in three months.

He said during two and half years of PTI government, the NHA increased its revenue by 105%. He said within 10 days, work on Sialkot Kharian Motorway would start and on Kharian-Rawalpindi section within three months.