March, 19 2005	Saturday	08 Safar 1426

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QUETTA, March 18: The Balochistan assembly speaker on Friday admitted an adjournment motion tabled by opposition members seeking a debate on the Dera Bugti incident. The motion will be taken up on Monday. Soon after recitation from the Holy Quran, opposition members, on points of order, expressed deep resentment over the killing of Bugti tribesmen by security forces and alleged that the action was pre-planned. Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar sought opinion of the treasury benches on the motion moved by Jan Buledi and Rehmat Baloch of the National Party. Home Minister Mir Shoaib Nausherwani supported the move to debate the situation. In Tuesday’s session, the treasury had opposed an adjournment motion of opposition leader to debate troops’ deployment in the Sui area. But keeping in view the rapidly changing situation in Dera Bugti, it favoured discussing the situation there.

Opposition members claimed that they had been raising concern over the deployment of regular troops in Sui but the “anti-Baloch” rulers dubbed “our apprehensions baseless”. They said that killing of scores of tribesmen in Dera Bugti was ample proof that the rulers wanted to crush a political movement by force.

They lamented that the injured were not allowed to be shifted for medical treatment. They said that the resistance of Balochs to “aggressors’ designs” could not be suppressed by state apparatus.

Concluding a debate on six identical adjournment motions on flood-hit regions, the chief minister said that the federal government “has been approached” to provide Rs3 billion for the rehabilitation of people stricken by natural calamity.

Jam Muhammad Yousuf assured the house that the government would provide relief to victims without discrimination, regardless of whether they were Baloch or Pushtun.

He said he personally visited the flood-hit areas and found 22 out of total 27 districts in need of relief.

The provincial government, within its resources, provided foodstuff, tents and medicine to the affected people.

The chief minister said that portions of the newly-constructed coastal road had been damaged. One could imagine what must have happened to people living in mud-brick houses, he remarked, adding that they had lost everything due to torrential rain and floods.

He said every district had made estimates of property and livestock losses to the tune of Rs1 billion. That way, a total of Rs22 billion were needed for the 22 districts in order to rehabilitate them. The federal government would not provide that much money, he added.

He, however, stressed that the federal government should play its role in this endeavour keeping in view the shortage of funds faced by the Balochistan government.

He minced no words in saying that without a special package by the federal government, the Balochistan government could not do much.

Opposition members Kachkol Baloch, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal, Rehmat Baloch, Sardar Azam Musakhel, Akhtar Hussain Lango, Naseem Turyalai, Akbar Mengal and Dr Shama Ishaque participated in the debate. From treasury side, Mir Asim Kurd, Maulana Abdul Rahim Bazai, Shabir Badani and Shah Zaman Rind spoke.

Some opposition members were not satisfied with the arrangements made to compensate victims of the recent wet spell, and alleged favouritism in the supply of tents and blankets.

They complained that their districts had been ignored in the distribution of funds and called for fair and equitable allocation of relief supplies.

They demanded that the government not only forgive bank loans of the rain-hit people but also provide them interest-free fresh credit.