PESHAWAR, Oct 22: The Awami National Party (ANP) has warned the present regime and any of its political allies against building the Kalabagh dam.
ANP central vice-president Haji Mohammad Adeel said that three provincial assemblies had adopted unanimous resolutions against the dam, but the federal government was paying no heed to people’s opinion.
In a statement issued on Sunday, he said the ‘mysterious silence’ of Manzoor Bacha, provincial secretary for planning and development department, at the Central Development Working Party’s meeting in Islamabad had exposed the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.
He said Mr Bacha remained silent when federal government officials asked provincial representatives for their opinion on the purchase of land for the dam. He pointed out that representatives of Sindh had opposed the construction of the dam, but the NWFP government endorsed it.
The ANP leader said the MMA had been an ally of military rulers since its inception as it had installed General Musharraf as president by facilitating the passage of the 17th amendment, allowed the NWFP chief minister to attend National Security Council meetings and manoeuvred the post of opposition leader in the National Assembly for Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
He said when the entire country was mourning the assassination of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the MMA again bailed out rulers and sidelined the issue by initiating a meaningless debate on the Protection of Women Bill.
He said the MMA government had kept the terms of reference of the Arbitration Tribunal secret from the provincial assembly and made a ‘deficit’ deal with the federal government by abandoning the constitutional process (AGN Kazi formula).
He alleged that the MMA government had deprived the province of its five billion rupees of net hydel profit and said the decision would affect the NWFP’s electricity income.
The ANP leader said that in the past the federal government had accepted an increase of 11 per cent, but the provincial government’s lawyer himself proposed an increase of 10 per cent at the arbitration tribunal.
