QUETTA: The Balochistan cabinet on Friday approved allotment of 750 acres of land to the Ministry of Defence Production for construction of a shipyard in Pasni city of Gwadar district.

The Balochistan government will allot the land to the ministry for construction of the shipyard on the of basis 30 per cent equity. The provincial share will be 20-30pc in the project.

“Around 10,000 jobs will be created in the shipyard, which would help in providing jobs to Balochistan’s youths,” Liaquat Ali Shahwani, spokesman for the Balochistan government, said.

The cabinet meeting, which continued for around eight hours, discussed about 50 agenda points. The cabinet reviewed the proposed amendment in the Local Government Act, 2010, and decided that the proposed amendment would be introduced after giving it final shape before holding of next local bodies election in Balochistan.

The meeting agreed in principle that local bodies institutions would be establish on three levels — Union Council, Municipal Committee/Municipal Corporation and Metropolitan Corporation in the province.

A sub-committee will be constituted for giving final shape to all related matters in this regard. The committee will hold meetings with opposition parties to take them into confidence on the local bodies issues.

The provincial government would allocate enough funds for the local bodies in the provincial Public Sector Development Programme that would be distributed through the provincial finance commission. A check and balance mechanism would also be introduced.

The provincial cabinet also approved the draft bill of the Balochistan Cadet Colleges Act, 2019. It also gave approval for establishment of a separate board of technical and vocational training institute.

It decided that powers would be transferred to the grass root level in the education department. The cabinet also approved transfer power and authorities to primary schools.

Transfers and postings of government employees also came under discussion. It was decided that transfer and postings and matters of conducting inquiries and other issues would be decided by divisional and district officers. The power for transfer and postings of government employees will also be transferred to divisional and district officers. The Balochistan cabinet under Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani also gave approval for establishment of a provincial disaster management commission.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2020