PESHAWAR, Dec 2: NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani on Tuesday announced a Rs179 million plan for extension of gas supply to Peshawar, Charsadda, Mardan and Swat districts.

The chief minister told a news conference, held to mark the first anniversary of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s rule in the province, that his government was providing the finances to the SNGPL to execute the projects.

Flanked by his cabinet ministers, MMA and MPAs and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines General Manager Imdad Hussain, he said that gas deposits discovered in the southern areas of the province were more than enough to meet the requirements of the NWFP.

He said he had discussed the matter with Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali to seek his help in getting additional gas from the new fields and ensuring that the province was paid the profits earned from it.

He said his government stood by the MMA’s programme of enforcing Shariat. “We have not gone back on our programme, not even by an inch,” he remarked.

He said his government had taken all the political parties along and the unanimous passage of the Shariat Bill and the provincial budget in the NWFP Assembly was a proof of that.

He said the law and order situation in the NWFP was exemplary, which  had been acknowledged by the federal government.

Peace and security, he said, was a prerequisite for investment and  the interest shown by foreign investors in the province was an indication of their trust in his government.

He said a Saudi group close to the royal family was investing in a cement factory in the NWFP, which would encourage other investors to   come to the province.

He said his government was striving to get the rights of the province.

He said the federal government should devolve powers to the provinces, which had become post offices between the centre and the district governments.

He said he had raised the issue of profit from hydel generation with the federal government and was confident that the issue would be amicably resolved.

Mr Durrani said the NWFP and Balochistan had taken a joint stand in the National Finance Commission that resources should be distributed among the provinces on the basis of poverty and backwardness.

He expressed the hope that the provinces’ share in the divisible pool would be raised from the current 37.5 per cent to 50 per cent, which would provide additional funds for development.

He termed the establishment of women’s medical college, university and sports directorate, recruitment of schoolteachers, free primary education with provision of books and uniform to poor students, the establishment of ‘A-grade’ hospitals at the district level and the introduction of interest-free banking the major achievements of his government.

Replying to a question, he said Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, being the province’s constitutional head, should maintain dignity. “In democracy, different parties can rule different provinces but some people are striving to install one-party rule at the centre and the provinces,” he said.

He said every person should operate within the constitutional limits and any extra-constitutional step would become part of the history.

The SNGPL GM said steps were being taken to lay pipes of bigger gauge to overcome the problem of low pressure. “There will be no gas loadshedding this time,” he said.

APP adds: The chief minister said his government would never indulge in any confrontation with the centre and would adopt peaceful means for the solution of their problems. He referred to the formation of the jirga comprising leaders of different political parties in this regard.