PESHAWAR, March 13: The NWFP government has decided to lodge a protest against the federal government's what it termed unilateral move to nominate three arbitrators on its own to resolve the row over the net hydel profit between the province and Wapda, an official handout stated here on Friday.

It said the provincial government's concerns were conveyed to the federal government after the provincial minister for finance, Sirajul Haq, held a meeting with the NWFP Chief Minister, Akram Khan Durrani.

The handout said that according to the understanding reached between Wapda, NWFP and the federal government, the first two were to nominate three arbitrators each, who were to select a chief arbitrator (chairman).

However, the handout said, two days ago, the provincial government received a letter from the federal government, which informed the province about the names of three arbitrators nominated by the federal government.

It said that in view of the sensitivity of the matter, the provincial government had decided to convene a meeting of the special committee [notified as jirga] involving representatives of all major political parties of the NWFP to discuss the situation arising out of the federal government's move and formulate possible future line of action to deal with the situation.

"In a meeting with Senator Prof Khurshid Ahmed, the head of the special committee, provincial finance minister Sirajul Haq said that the federal government's unilateral decision is not acceptable for the province," the handout quoted the minister as saying.

The handout said that the move would complicate the matter instead of helping the two sides to resolve the issue.