QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has once again urged angry Baloch insurgents to come down from the mountains and resolve all issues with the government through dialogue.

He said if those who were up on the mountains considered themselves well-wishers of the people of Balochistan, they should be willing to initiate negotiations to solve problems the province had been facing for decades.

“Dialogue is the only way to find solutions to all issues. Come to the negotiation table as it is the right way for finding a suitable way,” he said while talking to reporters during his visit to the port city of Gwadar on Saturday.

“Instead of picking up guns and climbing on mountains, help us to resolve the problems and work for the betterment of the people of Balochistan,” Mir Bizenjo said, adding that everybody would suffer from fighting and conflict.

He also said implementing merit in Balochistan was now the government’s top priority and that it has been decided to appoint even low-level employees through the Public Service Commission in the province. He said the government introduced an e-tendering system to ensure transparency in government works. The establishment of such a system would end recommending culture and all tenders would be awarded on merit, he said.

“We have saved the country from a heavy fine imposed by international courts as we solved the Reko Diq problem wisely,” Mr Bizenjo said, adding that the government ensured 25 per cent share for Balochistan in the Reko Diq project and will earn billions of dollars in the next few years from taxes, royalty and other shares that will make Balochistan financially stable and change the living standard of people.

He said the government was providing equal funds to all districts for the development, including Turbat as it wants all areas to be developed.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2023