SIALKOT: Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Friday said soon the whole area of historic Sialkot Fort would be handed over to the Archaeology Department and all the offices set up there would be shifted elsewhere.
Addressing industrialists and exporters at the SCCI, Khawaja Asif said that throughout his more than three-decade long political career, he has consistently received the full support and cooperation of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).
Asif also paid tributes to the late Sheikh Ejaz Ahmed, former provincial minister and a leading local PML-N stalwart, for his services and vision for development and improvement in civic facilities.
The Defense Minister said that after the completion of Sialkot Motorway up to Rawat and the Sialkot Ring Road by 2029 and shifting of general bus stand from the city, the traffic-related problems in Sialkot city would be resolved considerably.
The minister said that during the desilting of Nullah Bhed recently he noticed encroachments along the nullah, including many new factories, adding that unfortunately the same was the situation in Aik Nullah.
He added that the District Jail would also be shifted out of the city and with the funds worth Rs100 million the Allama Iqbal Library would also be renovated.
He said that the EDF (export development fund) belonged to exporters and it must be spent on the welfare of exporters. He viewed that the business community of Sialkot must try to solve the matter of making an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) here and adopt some new model for it.
