June 1, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 4, 1427

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QUETTA, May 31: Balochistan’s tribal society is fast transforming into a progressive one on the back of large-scale development projects launched by the federal government over the past six years, according to Balochistan Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani.

He was talking to a delegation from NIPA here on Wednesday.

The governor said that most of the people in the province had embraced development programme and a middle-class was emerging in the province, which was healthy for the province’s growth.

Mr Ghani said that the only people resisting progress were elements who were rapidly losing their dominant tribal positions, adding that they were trying to maintain their grip on tribesmen.

He said that progressive political groups had been successful in local government elections, adding that voters had backed the development programme by electing progressive elements.

Expressing the federal government’s determination to put the province on the path to progress, he said that it had allocated Rs140 billion for various development projects during the past six years but it was encountering some difficulties because of the province’s scattered population.

The governor said that there was a great scope for investment in Balochistan saying that the government was encouraging domestic and international financiers to invest in the province.

He also said that the government wanted to promote higher education besides making efforts for improving the quality of education in primary and middle schools.

He said that more attention was being paid to projects in communication, health, agriculture, mineral and water sectors.

Mr Ghani said that over the next eight years, the province would be the most developed and play an important role in domestic economic progress.