11 July 2004	Sunday	22 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

MITHI, July 10: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz has said he does not believe in lip service and will take practical steps to resolve people's problems.

Speaking at a reception hosted by the Maheshwari community at the local gymkhana on Saturday, he said efforts would be made to provide amenities to people.

About problems of people of Tharparkar, Mr Aziz, who is contesting the by-election for the NA-229 seat, said he was aware of issues of Thar and would spare no efforts for their solution.

He said the present government had launched policies to improve economy of country.

Mr Aziz disputed the claim of some people that he was not a Pakistani citizen.

Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Raheem said the Tharparkar district would witness development after Mr Aziz was elected from the constituency.

He said no political party would be allowed to hoist their flags on electricity poles during the bye-election campaign.

About construction of the Kalabagh dam, he denied that the prime minister had said that the project would be constructed at any cost. He said the dam would be built after a consensus on the issue. He, however, said the country needed water reservoirs.

Meanwhile, Mr Aziz, accompanied by Waseem Sajjad, Ghulam Raheem, Arbab Zakaullah, MPA Arbab Haji Abdullah, MPA Rajvir Singh, Hamir Singh, Arbab Attaullah, Kishanchand Parwani and others, attended the court of the returning officer who accepted his nomination form after hearing objections raised by advocate Yousuf Laghari, representing People' Party Parliamentarians candidate Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani.

Mr Aziz launched his election campaign by speaking at a corner meeting in Mithi, reports APP.