ISLAMABAD: A large group of notables, investors and local businessmen of Green Valley on Wednesday lauded Samsons Group of Companies for its billions of rupees investment to restore tourism and provide job opportunities to youth in Swat valley.

Addressing a press conference here at a hotel on Wednesday, they urged the government and police to maintain law and order in the area to ensure full protection to investors and businessmen who were helping revive the local economy and providing jobs to thousands of local skilled and unskilled workers.

Sharing details of the investment, they said the company started investing the funds in the area in 2014, when no other investor was willing due to the security threats.

The company has helped restored the tourism in the area with its investment.

They said the company had restored the chair lift, hotels and other facilities in Malam Jabba, which in return attracted thousands of local and foreign tourists, providing jobs to thousands of locals.

Local businessmen said that there are around 1,600 hotels in the Swat valley and they all remained fully booked during the winter, contributing a handsome amount in the local economy and the country’s revenue through the taxes.

They rejected the allegations leveled by a local, Mohammad Zeb, that the company had occupied the land in the Green Valley, adding that all the locals were paid as per agreement with the Samsons Company and then the land was handed over for commercial use.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021