QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has said that a decision about the Reko Diq copper-gold project will be taken before March next year.

Speaking at a ceremony on Tuesday for distribution of appointment letters among 1,493 male and female teachers of Global Partnership for Education-Balochistan Education Project, the chief minister said the Reko Diq project was an important asset of the province.

The Balochistan Assembly had recently adopted a resolution on the Reko Diq issue.

The resolution warned that no accord about the future of Reko-Diq would be accepted without taking Balochistan’s elected representatives and the provincial government on board.

Members from the opposition and the treasury benches demanded an in-camera briefing on the future of Reko Diq project, expressing and apprehension that an agreement might be signed by the federal government without taking the Balochistan Assembly and the government into confidence.

Mr Bizenjo said: “The entire assembly will be informed whatever decision is taken on Reko Diq.” He said that due to the change of government in Afghanistan some incidents of terrorism had occurred in Balochistan.

“We are not sleeping and soon the elements involved in these terrorist incidents would be exposed and brought to justice,” he said. It was the government’s responsibility to provide security to the people and his government would fulfil its responsibilities, he added.

The chief minister said his government had done no favour to the teachers by giving them appointment letters as it was their right. He said the previous government should be asked why it did not pay any attention to the sit-ins staged by these teachers. “I thank Allah for giving me an opportunity for resolving problems of these people.”

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2021