PESHAWAR, Nov 1: Federal Minister for Water and Power Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao has said that adoption of peaceful means for the resolution of differences between Centre and federating units is the best option for the settlement of issues.

Addressing a function after inaugurating 132kv Rehman Baba Grid Station here on Saturday morning, he contended that genuine problems could be resolved through solid reasoning put in a decent manner and not through coercive methods.

He agreed that problems and issues cropping up from time to time between the Centre and the provinces could be addressed when it were properly pleaded.

“Federating units are like four brothers, and if we sit in a set direction and with correct assessment, the federation is bound to address the problems of the provinces,” the federal minister remarked.

He said the federation and the federating units were linked to each other, and the Centre was bound to take every federating unit along in running the federation.

However, he made it clear that the opposition was part and parcel of a democratic setup and there was no two opinion on resolution of peoples’ grievances between the government and the opponents. “Serving the people is our duty and we will not tolerate any lethargic attitude in this regard,” he said.

The government, he further said, was serious in the development of the country on sound footings and was making every endeavour to achieve the desired ends.

To substantiate his point of view, Mr Sherpao said, power tariff was a national problem and to provide some sort of relief to the power consumers in terms of tariff to domestic, commercial and industrial sectors, a task force had been constituted.

The task force, he said, had almost completed its work and was expected to submit its report by Nov 30 which would later be presented before the federal cabinet for approval.

He said President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali were taking keen interest in providing relief to the people on electricity head.

Referring to the development projects of Wapda in the NWFP, Mr Sherpao said work on laying transmission line from Ghazi Barotha to Shahi Bagh in Peshawar would be started shortly. It would be the second biggest project of Wapda in the province after laying of Daudkhel-Domel transmission line, he added.

Daudkhel-Domel project, he further said, would be completed at a cost of Rs1.5 billion and was expected to be completed by March next year.

The project would address power related problems of the southern districts.

Last year, 1,100 transformers were installed in the NWFP, he said, and added Rs35 million were spent on replacement of old wires in Peshawar city alone.

“We are also concentrating on upgradation of the existing electric system’’ he said.—APP