Decision on dam, NFC to be made together: President shrugs off BLA threat
By M.H. Khan
HYDERABAD, Dec 23: President Pervez Musharraf said on Friday that the National Finance Commission (NFC) award would be announced along with a decision on new water reservoirs.
Talking to reporters at the Circuit House, the president expressed the hope that the parliamentary committee formed to decide the issue of the concurrent list would complete its work soon.
He said that a hurdle in the way of the NFC award was lack of consensus on the issue. However, he said, now all chief ministers had expressed confidence in him on the issue and added: “I will announce the NFC award along with the decision on water reservoirs.”
Gen Musharraf supported maximum autonomy for provinces and said the government was fully alive to what was happening in Balochistan and it had the capability to contain activities of the so-called Balochistan Liberation Army for which decisions were being taken.
He said that owing to wrong policies of the past 50 years a few warlords had held the government hostage in Balochistan which no country could afford. He said that the BLA was just an ‘irritant’ as they were a few people and not a big problem.
He said that BLA’s activities would be ‘controlled’ for which planning was under way. “We will handle BLA,” he said, adding that since the NFC and BLA were sensitive issues the matter should be left to him because “he had become expert in walking a tight rope.”
He emphasized the need for inter-provincial harmony. He held development imbalance responsible for disharmony among provinces and said that past governments did not adopt a balanced approach.
Punjab, he pointed out, used to get 23 per cent of the Public Sector Development Programme budget, but now it was getting only 8-9 per cent. Other provinces were now getting more than their share of the PSDP funds, he said.
He described the issues of the NFC award, provincial autonomy and Concurrent List as strategic in nature. “I examined these issues until 2002 and left them for the next government for a final decision as I was bogged down in economic issues and the post-9/11 scenario also diverted my attention,” he said.
The president said that those talking about katcha area becoming dry because of the dam’s construction had, in fact, acquired land for Re1 an acre. He added that only 4,800 tubewells needed to be installed at a cost of Rs3 billion to meet the needs of the dry season.
He disagreed with a suggestion that his credibility had been affected due to his decision regarding the 1994 ministerial committee over water.
He rejected talk of disintegration of the country if controversial water projects were executed. “Those attempting to break Pakistan will themselves be eliminated,” he declared.
Gen Musharraf said there was no opposition in the NWFP and Balochistan to water projects. He said Dera Ismail Khan, the hometown of the Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman, had 850,000 acres of barren land and it would get water after the construction of a dam. Then why (Maulana Fazl) would oppose it? he asked.
Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed and Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao were present.
