KARACHI: Large dams vital for country, says Arbab: NFC Award soon
KARACHI, Sept 19: The Sindh Chief Minister, Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, said that the construction of large water reservoirs was necessary for the uplift of the country. He was talking to civil officers from the Pakistan Administrative Staff College, Lahore, at the Chief Minister House here on Monday.
“In the past Sindh had maintained that the construction of large dams was unnecessary as water was not available itself but situation was changing now and if there was any consensus on the issue Sindh would not oppose the construction of large dams,” he added.
He pointed out that there was a site for a dam at Skardu whereas the other sites were Bhasha and Kalabagh.
The chief minister said that political stability was a must for good governance in the country.
Dr Arbab said that there was a lack of political maturity in the country and added that the former nazims while remaining in office had also organized demonstrations against the government on different issues and accused them of not discharging their due responsibilities properly.
He expressed satisfaction over the results of the recent local body polls but criticized the role of the media during the elections.
Dr Arbab said that during the polls a man died due to heart attack and in another incident in Khairpur two persons quarrelled in a van and one got killed but the media reported these incidents as the outcomes of poll violence.
The chief minister charged that several other incidents occurred outside the polling stations were linked to the poll process by the media.
He said that the irrigation department had a very important role to play because the rural economy totally depended on agriculture and stressed the need of maintaining a record of cultivation.
The chief minister, however, expressed satisfaction over the law and order situation of the province and said that the response of police was above his expectations.
Expressing grave concerns over the death of people in the Landhi Town, he said that contaminated water had become a big problem in both Karachi and the interior of Sindh.
He said that this incident happened due to substandard work by the UC nazim and also expressed concern over the disposal of solid waste of Karachi.
Dr Arbab expressed hope that the National Finance Commission award would be announced soon.
He was of the view that in this connection every province had its political stand and if it moved back from that then it would face political repercussions. However, he was optimistic that a way out would soon be found.
We also accept the population factor and we say that maximum may be given on the basis of population because where there are more people, more money is needed, the chief minister remarked.
However, he was of the view that backwardness, income generation and vastness of area were the other considerations and as such a multiple factors formula was appropriate.
Dr Arbab said that there was also a provision in the constitution that the president may also announce the award himself.
On the occasion, Sindh Finance Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed pointed out that up till now we had a single criterion which was on the basis of population for the distribution of taxable pool-income tax, excise, customs and sales tax, whereas multiple criteria was used all over the world.—PPI/APP
