October 18, 2003	Saturday	Sha'aban 21, 1424

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QUETTA, Oct 17: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf on Friday dispelled the reservations expressed by nationalist parties regarding the construction of the Gwadar deep-seaport and pledged that the government would safeguard the rights of the local population in this regard.

He said this while speaking at a public meeting in Surab, some 220 kilometres from here in the Kalat district.

Jam Mohammad Yousuf said that the provincial government was capable of fulfilling its responsibilities regarding the protection of the rights of the people of Gwadar.

There would be no compromise on the legitimate rights of Balochistan and its people, Jam Yousuf announced.

Terming apprehensions expressed by the nationalist parties about the Gwadar port wrong and baseless, he said that the Balochistan government was fully responsible for the development of the new port city of Gwadar, adding that Gwadar Development Authority had recently been established in this regard. The authority, he said, had also been approved by Balochistan Assembly that would be responsible for the development work in the area.

The provincial chief minister rejected the politics of confrontation, saying that the people of Balochistan wanted to expedite the development work in the province, adding that they would not be provoked to take up arms and go up in the mountains without any justification.

Pledging to fight for the protection of Balochistan’s legitimate rights, he said that no one would be allowed to exploit the province’s people as they had already suffered a lot because of the politics of confrontation.

Referring to the Gwadar port project, he said that its completion would help the government combat backwardness, unemployment and poverty from Balochistan.

The chief minister said that selling of one’s property was the constitutional right of every individual, adding that the people of Gwadar were exercising that right and were selling their properties of their own free will.

He said that there was no legal and ethical justification for the government to impose a ban on the sale of land in the Gwadar area.

He said that educated people of Gwadar would be imparted special training, enabling them to help run the Gwadar port in the future.

He said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali were giving special attention on the development of Balochistan.