December 02, 2008	Tuesday	Zilhaj 3, 1429

QUETTA, Dec 1: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani has said that agreements signed by the former government on the Gwadar port will be reconsidered to make the new port functional as soon as possible.

Talking to Dawn on phone after a meeting in Islamabad on Monday, he said the previous government had signed several agreements that caused a delay in making the port functional and created negative impact on the economy.

He said the high-level meeting discussed all issues and concerns of Balochistan and decided to remove the province’s sense of deprivation.

Nawab Raisani said the reconciliation process was in progress and the government was making all-out efforts to resolve all issues through negotiations.

“We’ve dropped all false cases registered by the previous government against political leaders and released them,” he said.

He said the province would be able to save Rs1 billion in a year after the conversion of the State Bank’s overdraft into a soft loan.

The chief minister said the federal government had decided to unload imported wheat quota of Balochistan and 100,000 tons of fertiliser at the Gwadar port.