ISLAMABAD, Sept 15: The NWFP government has opposed the president’s offer of fencing the 1,400km Afghan border, terming it an extremely harmful step for the centuries-old relations between tribesmen living on both sides of it. Provincial Senior Minister Sirajul Haq while speaking at a news conference at the Rawalpindi-Islamabad press club on Thursday, also discribed as unacceptable the new National Finance Commission formula presented in an informal meeting of the four provincial finance ministers, presided over by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Salman Shah.

He said all the provinces had welcomed the proposals advanced by the president but the formula presented in the meeting was contrary to the offer of allocation of 50 per cent of resources to them. He asked the federal government to come up with a formula which covered the aspects of poverty, backwardness and under-development of provinces.

In reply to a question, he said the provincial government had a number of options on the Hasba bill, including taking it to the Supreme Court, and a decision in this connection would soon be taken in a meeting to be attended by top Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leaders, including Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rahman.

He alleged that two MMA parliamentarians were being linked to terrorist groups to pressurize the alliance.

He said the tribal ulema had served as a bridge between tribesmen and the security forces and the maligning of Maulana Nek Amal and Maulana Sadiq was harmful for this relationship.

He said the people of Pakistan were against recognition of Israel or establishment of relations with it until all of the Palestinian territory under its occupation was vacated. He said that the country’s foreign policy towards Israel was part of its national ideology, which should not be compromised.

The minister demanded that the federal government should accelerate the work of the joint committee on the issue of provincial arrears of profit from hydroelectric power generation.

He claimed that the Water and Power Development Authority owed to the NWFP Rs18 billion as against the amount of Rs6 billion, which had been capped in 1991 under the A.G.N. Kazi formula.

Mr Haq criticized the federal government for trying to disqualify the local government representatives having seminaries’ certificates although a large number of parliamentarians were sitting in assemblies and the Senate with the same degrees.

He alleged that the move was aimed at undermining the MMA’s planned countrywide struggle against the government.

He said the NWFP government had taken steps like making education up to matriculation free, distributing books for primary schools and girls of up to matriculation free of cost introducing free emergency treatment in big hospitals and opening a Darul Kifala to discourage beggary.