HARIPUR, June 25: Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan has said the government has allowed import of 11 edible items to keep stable supply of foodstuff in markets. Talking to journalists here on Saturday, the minister said bringing stability in the supply and price of daily-use items was the responsibility of the provincial and district governments.

He said the federal government was taking steps to bring down inflation to a reasonable level.

In reply to a question, he said the agriculture sector had witnessed a record growth during last fiscal year, which, he said, was evident from the demand of 10,000 tractors.

About development schemes, he said the federal government had allocated a huge amount in the budget for poverty alleviation and uplift schemes, as it believed in improving the quality of life of people of neglected areas.

He said under the Roshan Pakistan programme, a number of villages were being electrified and expressed optimism that all villages would be provided electricity by 2007.

About the JICA-funded gravity flow scheme on river Dour in Abbottabad, Mr Khan made it clear that the water rights of district Haripur would be protected and said the project would not harm the agriculture system of Haripur.

He said Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had granted Rs1.26 billion for a water canal project for Haripur, adding that the proposed canal would originate from the Tarbela Dam reservoir near village Beer.

Earlier, a delegation of farmers of different union councils called on the minister and apprized him of their apprehensions about the proposed gravity flow scheme for Abbottabad.

TREES DESTROYED: A large number of trees and herbs were burnt to ashes and scores of animals were killed after a fire broke out in a privately owned forest in village Malikabad on Thursday.