January 2, 2006	Monday	Zilhaj 1, 1426

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ISLAMABAD Jan 1: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Sunday that revival and reconstitution of the 9-member Council of Common Interests as endorsed by the federal cabinet on Saturday would help create an atmosphere of trust between the federal and provincial governments on all issues, including the construction of new water reservoirs.

The premier said that the CCI was a constitutional body which did not exist for some years and needed to be operational to discuss national issues to create consensus and understanding among the federating units.

Talking to official media, he said the CCI would now be reconstituted by including four provincial chief ministers, and four nominees of the federal government with prime minister as its chairman.

He said the government was determined to implement the real spirit of the CCI.

He added that the CCI could certainly contribute towards resolving the issue of water reservoirs but that was not the only reason for which it was recreated.

Being a constitutional body, the premier added, “we can discuss many other issues besides water reservoirs in line with the terms of reference of CCI”.

“There are many areas which would be covered in the CCI but certainly the country needed water reservoirs and this issue would be an important item for discussion in the council,” said the premier.

The prime minister said the country needed to worry about its future because the way trends were going there will be shortage of water and “our farmers’ demands would become hard to meet”.

“Agriculture, being a major part of the economy employing 60 per cent of the country’s population, needs increased amount of water and if we do not have adequate water then we are going to face grave consequences,” he said.

He said Pakistan remained behind schedule in building of water storages “as we at present store only 9 per cent of our water as against other countries’ storage capacity of 30 to 40 per cent”.

The government, he maintained, was aware of the concerns that were expressed in various parts of the country about the building of water reservoirs and it was trying to address all these reservations and remove them by finding technical solutions, laying facts on the table.

Mr Aziz expressed the hope that the matter could be solved through a dialogue with all stakeholders by sharing the fact with everybody and ensuring whatever decisions were taken in the national interest.