QUETTA, Jan 10: Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed inaugurated the Rs280m Hub-Dureji Road and Dureji Powerhouse here on Sunday. With the opening of the power project, five villages of the area got electricity.
The event sent a wave of joy among local people who had never seen electricity in their area.
Speaking at a public meeting held in connection with the opening of the projects, the governor said the province had been neglected in the past and this was acknowledged by President Gen Pervez Musharraf himself. That was the reason for launching mega projects in the province to bring Balochistan on a par with other parts of the country.
Expressing pleasure over the completion of the two projects, he said the area would soon be linked with the national grid for which the federal government had allocated Rs4 billion for the Dadu-Khuzdar transmission line and it would be completed in two years.
The governor said such projects would speed up economic activities in the area, and provide jobs to local people. He made it clear that no one could stop the development process initiated by the government and urged the people to equip themselves with modern education to achieve full benefit of the process.
The governor said that the Higher Education Commission would provide Rs3 billion in the next five years for an agriculture and water sciences university in the Lasbela district.
He said the university would be set up in the premises of the Pak-Iran textile mill in Uthal. The mill has been lying closed for nearly two decades. The university would start functioning within a month, the governor promised.
Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf, Sardar Mohammad Saleh Bhootani and Balochistan Assembly Deputy Speaker Mohammad Aslam Bhootani were present on the occasion. The governor said the federal government had decided to hand over the mill premises to the Balochistan government for the purpose.
Besides, he said, the provincial government would set up a technical college in Bela. He also announced that the Hub dam expansion project would be taken up soon.
He noted that although all provinces had played their role in the development of the country, Balochistan would take the country to the top. "The people here have become conscious of their rights and they would no longer be misled by hollow slogans.
They want practical steps and appreciate efforts being made by the government which is evident from the fast completion of all development schemes, especially the mega projects."
The Dureji Powerhouse has been completed at a cost of Rs8 million. Three generators of 200kw capacity have been provided by Oman for the project. Earlier, addressing the gathering Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf said the people of Balochistan had rendered tremendous sacrifices in the Pakistan Movement.
He said those who claimed that the people of Balochistan did not want live with Pakistan were misleading the people. He asked all his opponents to tell him what they had done for the people of the province when they held the chief minister ship and the governor ship of the province.
He said President Musharraf wanted to allocate more funds for Balochistan to provide maximum facilities to its people. He said the people wanted progress and development in their areas but a handful of elements were opposed to mega projects.
Referring to the development of Gwadar, he said the people of that area were selling their land at lucrative prices and at their own will. The government, he added, would fully protect the rights of the Balochistan people.
