SWAT
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan Saturday inaugurated the newly laid international standard Astro turf in the first world class modern hockey ground at Makan Bagh, Mingora of District Swat here.
Commissioner Malakand Division, Deputy Commissioner Swat Junaid Khan, Director General Sports KP Khalid Khan, Regional Sports Officer Swat Kashif Farhan, former congress member Pakistan Hockey Federation Malak Wadan, Officials of the District Swat Hockey Association were also present.
Chief Minister Mahmood Khan formally pushed the ball into the goal-post on a penalty stroke by formally inaugurating the newly laying Artificial Turf with other facilities including a separate female gymnasium for indoor female games besides attending a ground breaking ceremony of Swat Sports Complex, having facilities of all indoor and outdoor Games.
The construction work on the Hockey Ground and laying of artificial turf was completed with a total cost of Rs. 99.540 million including facility of double floor pavilion for spectators and players. The construction of the ground is part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s efforts to promote hockey by expanding facilities in the province, Chief Minister KP Mahmood Khan said while talking to media men soon after the inauguration ceremony.
The Hockey Ground would provide facilities for national and international competitions in Swat, Mahmood Khan said. Chief Minister KP Mahmood Khan also visited the state-of-the-art hockey ground equipped with international standard hockey turf and a modern-day pavilion with players and spectators galleries.
Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has made a promise with the youth of Malakand Division to have modern-day facilities of hockey and it has been fulfilled with such facilities.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is spending Rs22,402m to develop sports infrastructure all across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including merged tribal areas so that the youth could be provided with international standard facilities.
The KP government has been spending billions of rupees for the promotion of sports and developing international standard sports infrastructure including laying of 15 hockey turfs, seven separate gymnasiums for females with the total cost of Rs. 700 million, Rs. 100m of each Gymnasium in all seven Divisional Headquarters.
The record is set by allocating Rs22.402 million for the sports sector, which ensures a bright future for the players of the province as per the directives of the promises he made with the youth. Laying of hockey turfs have been approved in several districts which will increase the number of hockey turfs in KP to 15, which is itself a unique honor because KP becomes the leading province with more hockey turfs facilities.
Regional Sports Officer Kashif Farhan told media men that Hockey Turfs at Abdul Wali Khan Sports Complex, Charsadda and country’s historical institution Islamia College Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Mardan and now Swat have been completed with floodlight facilities while work on hockey turfs at Bajaur, Khyber, Nowshera, Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium Peshawar, Abbottabad, Buner, Malakand and Swabi are in the pipeline. The Astro-Turf at Nowshera and Bajaur are nearing completion while work on others would be started in due course of time, he said.
He said, in the first phase, a huge amount of Rs828 million has been allocated for hockey turfs in different districts at a cost of Rs87 million on Charsadda turf, Rs91 million on Islamia College, Rs99 million on Swat, Rs91 million on Kohat and Rs91 million on Dera Ismail Khan, Rs115 on Abbottabad, Rs123 million on Nowshera, Rs130 million on Bajaur, Rs130 million on Khyber.
