QUETTA, Sept 30: The chief of the Jamhoori Watan Party, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, has said he is not optimistic about the usefulness or performance of the 29-member parliamentary committee on Balochistan constituted this week.

Speaking at a press conference in Dera Bugti on Thursday, he said that such committees on different issues, including Kashmir, water distribution and the NFC award, had been formed in the past as well, but they failed to achieve anything over the past 20 to 30 years.

"Two committees were formed when I was a member of the National Assembly, but so far these committees have not taken any decision," Nawab Bugti said. He said: "If government really wants to resolve an issue, a four- to five-member committee should be enough.

About the government's decision to set up new cantonments in Balochistan, he said that talks would be useless if General Pervez Musharraf insisted on establishing these cantonments.

The former chief minister of Balochistan said that although information about the Gwadar Master Plan and its political, financial, administrative and demographic implications had not been provided to him, "We have some definite openings on the issue of Gwadar".

He said that all legislative powers regarding Gwadar and other mega-projects must vest in the Balochistan Assembly and the entire income, in the shape of taxes at present going to the federal government, should belong to the Balochistan government.

He said that the head of the port authority must be a Baloch and 60 per cent of the membership of its board of directors should be from Balochistan. The JWP chief said that all foreign investments in Gwadar should be made on the pattern of the UAE, that is on the basis of 51 per cent local and 49 per cent foreign partnership.

"Without meeting this condition, no licence should be issued," he said, adding that there should be a written guarantee that the head of the Gwadar port authority would be a genuine Balochistani.

Referring to representation in the Senate, Nawab Bugti said that the upper house must have equal representation of the four federating units. The federating units, he said, must be empowered to make all laws on their own subjects.

Nawab Bugti said that at present the federation owed Balochistan over Rs600 billion as 35-year arrear for exploiting and misusing gas and other national resources of the Baloch people. "Please do not rob us (because of our weakness) of our political rights, and all our wealth and incomes should be left to us," Nawab Bugti said.

About the next round of talks with him, he said: "I say no, since I have not been provided with necessary information. I am not in a position to talk without knowing anything."