Prime Minister (Nawaz) Sharif candidly admitted to the nation that the country’s treasury was empty.
“Owing to a lack of resources, we have not been able to bring the power crisis to an end. And at the moment the government doesn’t even have money enough to build a single power plant,” the PM said while addressing a ceremony during his visit to the site of newly discovered deposits of minerals in Rajua, round three kilometers south of Chiniot.
Speaking at the site, Sharif said the discovery could help Pakistan’s stuttering economy turn a corner and end its “begging bowl” culture.
It is Allah’s blessing that under the lush green fields rich deposits of copper, iron and gold have been found, which will help the country get rid of the ‘begging bowl’ for good,” Sharif said.
Declaring ‘War on Terror’ a national responsibility, Sharif hoped the scourge would very soon be crushed.
“Operation Zarb-e-Azb, Pakistan’s decisive offensive against the terrorists, was advancing by leaps and bounds under a National Action Plan,” the prime minister said.
Sharif sounded somewhat shaken when he said that prime-ministership was not a “bed of roses” but rather a “crown of thorns.”
“Running the affairs of government was not child’s play. My regime is coping with all the issues to bring about a positive change in the country,” he remarked.
Briefing the prime minster and other government official, Doctor Samar Mubarakmand revealed that huge deposits of iron and copper are ready to be quarried in Rajua.
According to senior provincial administrative official initial estimates indicated 500 million tons of iron ore — a primary ingredient in steelmaking — had been discovered.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Provincial Minister for Minerals Sher Ali, parliamentarians, representatives of Metallurgical Corporation of China and German consultants attended the event.
