April 24, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 06, 1428

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QUETTA, April 23: The provincial government will demand share for Balochistan from the sale proceeds of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL).

This was decided at a meeting held here on Monday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf.

The meeting discussed the matter of dues pending against the federal government on account of the Gas Development Surcharge and royalty and decided to take up the issue with the committee headed by Senator Dilawar Abbas.

The provincial government will suggest to the committee that Balochistan’s overdraft be adjusted against the outstanding dues payable to the province by Islamabad.

The meeting reviewed progress of ongoing projects and discussed various issues relating to the preparation of the next budget.

Chief Minister Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf constituted two committees that would monitor work on development projects and submit their reports in four weeks.

The committees would comprise representatives of the departments of finance and planning and development.

Chief Secretary K.B. Rind asked all departments to make all out efforts to ensure standard in the implementation of projects.

The meeting was informed that the size of the current Public Sector Development Programme was Rs7,059 million while only Rs3,760 million was available for foreign-funded projects. The additional chief secretary, planning and development, said that 68 per cent of the development work stood completed at the end of the third quarter of the current financial year.

The meeting was informed that the Balochistan government had ensured repayment of the hard cash development loans by obtaining funds under the Balochistan Resources Management Programme (BRMP) and Balochistan Devalued Social Services Programme.

The cash development loan will be cleared after receiving second installment from the BRMP which is expected in next few days. The provincial government will be saving around Rs250 million on account of interest it pays on the cash development loan every month.