ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders (ICST) has said government should make proper use of the oil and gas and other deposits untapped in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) having potential to change the fate of country.
In a statement issued here on Sunday, Patron ICST Shahid Rasheed Butt said that oil, gas, granite and marble available in the KP province can accelerate the development which will cull the militancy.
He said that gas reserves in the province have been estimated to be nine trillion cubic feet while oil reserves have been predicted at 500 million barrels which are ten times more than that of available in the region of Potohar.
Shahid Rasheed Butt said that over 250 billion tonnes of marble and granite reserves are also available in the province and adjacent Fata which can help country earn sizable foreign exchange and lift million out of poverty.
The business leader said that KP province is producing half of the total national production of oil and ten percent of the gas production which is also being provided to other provinces.
Peace should be ensured so that local and foreign investors can be attracted to that underdeveloped area which will result in enhanced revenue and reduce unemployment, he demanded.
He said that government should take note of reducing trend in the export of marble and granite and promoting value addition in this sector as export of raw material is not benefitting the country according to the potential.