March 28, 2006	Tuesday	Safar 27, 1427

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

QUETTA, March 27: Farmers on Monday blocked the National Highway for four hours between Quetta and Chaman in the Bileli area to protest against load-shedding. The protest was staged on the call of the Balochistan Zamindar Action Committee. The protestors ended the blockade after assurances by the chief minister that the issue would be effectively addressed.

The growers assembled at the Bileli bridge in the city suburbs and blocked the highway bringing traffic to a standstill, stranding hundreds of vehicles on both sides of the bridge.

Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf talked with representatives of the action committee and directed Qesco officials to settle the matter. He was accompanied by senior provincial minister Maulana Abdul Wasay, Minister for Revenue Mir Asim Kurd and Senator Saeed Hashimi.

Officials of the Quetta Electric Supply Company told the chief minister that they were resorting to load-shedding after electricity pylons were damaged by saboteurs in the Bolan area. They said that the repair work had been completed on March 26, adding that regular power supply had been restored.

Representatives of the farmers’ action committee said that they were facing serious problems because of load-shedding as they could not irrigate their crops and orchards without electricity.

APP ADDS: Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Jam Mohammad Yousuf on Monday condemned attacks on government installation and said that subversive activities would not be tolerated.

Addressing growers here Monday, he said some elements are out to hamper the development process by posing a threat to the government and private property, which would bring miseries to people of the province.

The CM said that thousands of poor growers had been hit hard by damage to electricity installations, adding that they had suffered a colossal loss because their crops had been destroyed.

He said that the Balochistan government had no right to stay in power if it failed to resolve people’s problems.

He said that the extension of the Dera Ismail Khan power transmission line via Zhob had been discussed during the recent visit of the prime minister, adding that it would would solve the longstanding power shortages in rural areas of Zhob, Loralai, Qila Saifullah, Musakhel and Barkhan.