DADU, April 10: A large number of activists of social organisations, jobless graduates and residents of different union councils of Dadu district took out a procession here on Monday to protest against officials of Zamzama gas field of the BHP company for not providing jobs to skilled and unskilled local people and not carrying out water, education and health projects in affected villages.

The possession, organised by the District Social Welfare Action Committee, marched from the Noorani Chowk to the press club where protesters staged a demonstration.

They were led by action committee president Nadeem Ahmed Ghallo, City Development Organisation president Asghar Mallah and taluka councillor Ms Soni Solangi.

Speaking on the occasion, Nadeem Ahmed Ghallo said that the company had been working in the Khirthar range since 1994 and a huge quantity of oil and gas was found in the Zamzama area in Johi taluka in April 1998.

He said that according to international law and an agreement between the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and the BHP, the company was bound to provide jobs to local people.

He said that hundreds of local people had submitted their documents to the BHP administration for different categories of jobs.

He alleged that key posts were given to people of Punjab, the NWFP and Balochistan and local people were neglected. He said this was a violation of the agreement.

Asghar Mallah said that the company was bound to use 2 per cent of the income on community projects like water supply, roads, health and education. He said that some projects of education and health were launched in selected areas, while villages around the Zamzama gas plant were neglected.

Taluka councillor Ms Soni Solangi, Faisal Malkani, Khalid Lashari, Zeeshan Memon, Khadim Hussain and Aijaz Memon appealed to President Gen Pervez Musharraf and the president and general manager of BHP to take notice of unemployment and lack of basic facilities in the area.

They threatened that if employment was not provided and basic development projects were not initiated within seven days, they would stage a demonstration at the front gate of the BHP.

The community development officer at the Zamzama gas plant, Imran Magsi, declined to comment.

PROTEST: An eye patient along with his family members staged a demonstration outside the local press club on Monday to protest against a doctor of the Civil Hospital, Dadu, for carrying out what they called wrong operation of his eye.