Thursday, October 13, 2011

PM reaches out to angry Balochs


QUETTA ? Expressing shock over the murder of former Afghan president Burhanduddin Rabbani, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said Pakistan is ready to share intelligence for investigation into the murder of Afghan leader.
Talking to mediamen after the passing-out parade of 5,000 Army recruits from Balochistan here on Tuesday, the prime minister said incumbent government was ready to hold talks with annoyed Baloch people and he was ready to go to their doorsteps.
Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Governor Balochistan Nawab Zulfqiar Ali Magsi, Deputy Chairman Senate Jan Muhammad Jamali, provincial ministers and other civil and military high-ups were also present on the occasion.
Gilani said Pakistan would completely cooperate with Afghan government to investigate the murder of Burhanuddin Rabbani. He also offered intelligence sharing to Afghan government to unveil the elements involved in the killing of the leader.
He said Pakistan was working on the lines to devise a combined strategy with Afghanistan to counter-terrorism in the region.
Referring to Pak-US ties, he said Pakistan-US relations were improving and strengthening. ?The Pak-US relations are moving in positive direction,? he added. He said a combined strategy was being evolved with Afghanistan to restore peace in the region. He claimed that the country was enjoying cordial relations with its neighbour Afghanistan and these relations were based on brotherhood.
Responding to a question, the prime minister said those who had chosen the path of terrorism were enemies of Baloch people and a hurdle in the way of development of province. ?I once again appeal to my annoyed brothers to give up violence and come on the negotiating table for peace,? he said adding, ?our doors are always open for disgruntled Baloch people to hold dialogue.
Referring to the recovery of bullet-riddled bodies of Baloch missing persons, Gilani said, ?We are concerned about missing persons issue and I have directed the provincial government for early recovery of the missing persons to make sure no happening of such incidents.?
He said foreign hands were involved in Balochistan?s destabilisation. When his attention was drawn towards Supreme Court?s suo moto notice over violence in Karachi, the prime minister said, ?We respect decisions of Supreme Court. Everybody takes credit that they restored judiciary but it was me who first issued orders for the restoration of judiciary?.
He said PPP?s government had done more than that of any other government in the past for the country and Balochistan.
Earlier, addressing to the recruits, Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan was passing through a difficult phase and regretted that some people had chosen the path of terrorism bringing the country and Islam into disrepute. They should come to the path of peace.
Paying rich tributes to the country?s armed forces he said the armed forces and the people of Pakistan stood united to stamp out extremism and terrorism and to bring prosperity and development to the country.
He said the government had intended to provide jobs to 20,000 youth from Balochistan and appreciated General Kayani and Commander of the Southern Command Lt-Gen Javed Zia for ensuring best possible training to bring the youth from the area into the national mainstream.
?I am sure these newly-recruited youth will bring good name to the country?s armed forces and Pakistan,? he added.
Highlighting the major development projects in Balochistan, Gilani said these are aimed at the socio-economic uplift of its people and said the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan was specifically launched to bring about a positive change in the area.
Referring to Balochistan, Gilani said President Zardari on the very first day in the parliament had apologised to the Baloch people for the injustices committed to them and pledged prosperity in Balochistan.
Gilani said the Supreme Court had established a cell of human rights. He said the mechanism of finding the missing persons was improved and a judicial commission was working in this regard.
?There will be no more cantonments and Frontier Constabulary will be deployed in Balochistan in place of Pakistan Army,? he said adding, 10 checkposts of the PCG Coast Guards had been abolished.
Gilani said 133 projects were being completed in different parts of Balochistan at a cost of Rs 305 billion. Rs 126 billion had so far been spent while Rs 28 billion had been allocated during the current fiscal year, he informed.
He said a meeting at the Aiwan-e-Sadr had reviewed the progress on Dera Bugti Development package, Quetta Development Project, Kohlu Development Project and Sui package.
He said Rs 111 billion had been allocated for 23 schemes for provision of water in Balochistan including small dams. Of which, he said Rs 10 billion would be provided this year while Mirani Dam and Subakzai Dam had been constructed at a cost of eight billion rupees.
He said the completion of Kachhi Canal Water Project would irrigate 120,000 acres of land in first phase and about 700,000 acres in second phase.
Gilani said another project of water supply will be completed in June 2012 with a cost of Rs 4.5 billion and would irrigate 287,000 acres of land. He also mentioned the ongoing work on Noling Dam, Wandar Dam, Hangol Dam, Paler Dam, Garok Dam and Hub Dam.
?Priority has been given to the construction of roads and their improvement in Balochistan for which Rs 8.5 billion had been allocated for 17 projects,? he said adding, for Gwadar Airport, Rs 1.5 billion had been released to purchase land and Rs 1.1 billion had been allocated for its construction, he added.
He said Pakistan People?s Party always projected the cause of a strong federation and devised a strategy to mitigate the sufferings of Baloch people soon after holding the public office.
He said the NFC Award guaranteed the rights of Balochistan in accordance with the 1973 Constitution in which the provinces were given their monetary and administrative rights.
?Under the new NFC Award, the divisible pool and fund transferring have been increased from 5.1 to 9.09 per cent,? he said adding, the royalty formula had also been reviewed with inclusion of royalty and GDS to one pool.
He said Rs 120 billion would be paid to Balochistan as gas development surcharges over a period of 12 years. During the fiscal years of 2010-11 and 2011-12, an amount of Rs 10 billion each had been provided.
The Cabinet Division had provided the government of Balochistan an amount of Rs one billion for the rehabilitation of the flood affected people. He said another amount of Rs 128 million had been allocated for the displaced people of the Mula Band. He said efforts were afoot to provide natural gas to Sui, Pir Koh and Looti areas.
He said the federal government would provide 30 per cent of its Saindak Project shares to the Balochistan government. He said the entire project would be handed over to the Balochistan government after its completion.
He said the federal government had also approved funds for 5,000 posts of BPS 14 and 16, while maximum posts would be provided to the youth from Balochistan at the Gwadar Port.
Prime Minister Gilani said an amount of Rs 3.5 billion was being earmarked for 600 scholarships to the Baloch students by the Higher Education Commission.
He said the scope of the Benazir Income Support Program had been increased to 30 districts of Balochistan and pointed that so far an amount of Rs 4.23 billion had been distributed amongst 140,000 deserving people.
Agencies add: Gilani, while pledging to create thousands of jobs in Balochistan, admitted past neglect of the region had fuelled its troubles. Linked Balochistan prosperity with peace, he said 20,000 jobs would be created in Balochistan through a range of development projects.
?Balochistan was neglected in the past which triggered a sense of deprivation. Our government has planned to provide 20,000 jobs for the youth of this province,? Gilani said.
Gilani said that his government would create employment through various projects including building colleges, water supply schemes and an IT university.
He also announced a six percent employment quota in some federal government departments and the introduction of 3,000 jobs in the tribal police for Balochistan residents. He said Balochistan will not be ignored anymore.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/today-headlines/~3/qanEIO3uI7A/PM-reaches-out-to-angry-Balochs

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