July 17, 2008	Thursday	Rajab 13, 1429

QUETTA, July 16: Provincial Minister for Education Shafiq Ahmed Khan said on Wednesday that funds for NGOs’ projects should be utilised in a transparent manner to the benefit of the scattered population of Balochistan.

He was speaking at a workshop, Balochistan Partnership for Sustainable Development, organised by the Balochistan chapter of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The IUCN has launched a six-year sustainable development project in six districts of Balochistan -- Quetta, Lasbella, Killa Saifullah, Pishin, Mastung and Gwadar -- to promote good environmental governance and present pilot programmes for encouraging conservation of water and coastal resources.

Referring to the sense of deprivation among the people of Balochistan, the minister said that natural gas was explored in Sui in 1952, but areas around the place were still without gas.

He said it was the responsibility of hundreds of NGOs operating in the province to provide health and education facilities to people. He said the PPP government was determined to solve people’s problems, particularly in far-flung areas of the province.

He said the government would cooperate with the NGOs working on environmental projects. He called for the promotion of tourism and said Balochistan had the potential to attract tourists.

The minister urged the policy-makers in Islamabad to address the grievances of the people of Balochistan.