QUETTA: The Chief Minister of Balochistan, Jam Kamal Khan Alyani, has announced that the reservations of both treasury and opposition members in the provincial assembly about development projects will be addressed so that these plans are acceptable to everyone.

Mr Alyani made these comments on his return to Quetta from a three-day visit to Makran division.

A Balochistan Assembly session had a debate over concerns the opposition had over the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the year 2018-19.

Members from both sides of the aisle said that even though billions of rupees were being allocated, the people of the province still did not have basic facilities such as clean drinking water, healthcare and education.

CM says reservations of provincial legislators will be addressed

The chief minister after listening to the members said that all of them would be taken into confidence, adding that their reservations would be addressed. “We want to run the house in a dignified manner,” he said, adding that the assembly must evolve to solving conflicts through peaceful debate instead of disruptive criticism like in the past.

“If we can succeed in preparing an acceptable PSDP, one that is beneficial to the people of the province, we would have done something that no other government has in the past.”

The chief minister also hinted that the government will produce a report to identify the problems with the PSDP over the last 18 years.

“We will be the bearers of change in Balochistan,” he said.

The chief minister also called for establishing a ‘board for planning and development, like the one in Punjab, to restructure all relevant departments concerned with the PSDP.

Provincial Minister for Popu­lation and Welfare Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran urged opposition members to share with the government a list of suggestions on how to improve the PSDP. “During the CM’s visit to the Makran Belt, we realised that despite investing billions of rupees the people in the area do not even have clean drinking water,” he added.

Other members, including those from the Balochistan National Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, said that Quetta had been ignored by successive governments, and that the PSDP should address these serious concerns.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2018