WASHINGTON, Dec 15: The Kalabagh dam issue may pose a serious threat to national integrity and Pakistan People’s Party is committed not to damage the country’s solidarity, says PPP-P chairperson Benazir Bhutto. She was talking to the Voice of America here on Thursday.

The former prime minister said that the people of Punjab also did not support the construction of the controversial dam and their silence should not be taken as their consent.

The way the riots triggered by the language issue in East Pakistan resulted in the creation of Bangladesh after 20 years, the issue of the construction of the disputed dam might undermine national integrity, she warned.

She said her party did not want an un-elected dictator to thrust upon the nation a controversial decision on the dam construction by making the issue of water shortage an excuse. She said her party had initiated projects like expansion of Tarbella dam, construction of Ghazi Barotha dam and other small dams to overcome water shortage. She said that if her party’s government had not been dismissed, it would have overcome the problem.

Ms Benazir regretted that government had shitted the burden of additional loans on the people by convening donors conference and more taxes would have to be levied to repay these loans after 30 to 40 years.

The money needed for the reconstruction of quake-hit areas could have been raised domestically, she said. She said that enough money could be saved just by postponing such non-development projects like the new GHQ and the acquisition of seven planes worth $1 billion from Sweden for only one year, adding that the money could have been utilized in the rehabilitation work.

She said neither herself nor her party were indifferent to the country’s defence (but) with the ongoing efforts to normalize relations with Israel and India, there were no credible threats to the country’s integrity.—Online