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QUETTA, May 11: President Pervez Musharraf has said that Balochistan will get 25 per cent share if the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) is privatised.
He was presiding over a meeting held here on Friday. Discussing a proposal of Balochistan Finance Minister Syed Ehsan Shah in this regard, the president said it would be a source of income for the province.
President Musharraf ordered that the focus of the development strategy for Balochistan should be on Gwadar and the port should be expanded.
He said the government wanted to develop Gwadar as a ‘modern city’ and link it with the rest of the country through a rail and road network.
Chief Secretary K.B. Rind briefed the president about various ongoing development projects and other issues.
President Musharraf directed the officials concerned to complete work on various projects in the minimum possible time.
He underlined the need for constructing the maximum number of delay-action dams in the province to help meet water shortage. He directed the National Highway Authority to complete construction of roads as soon as possible. He said the NHA should accelerate work on the Gwadar-Khuzdar motorway, Surab-Basima-Panjgur highway.
He asked the officials concerned to study the possibility of cementing 76 per cent of the canals in the province as demanded by the provincial government to check wastage of water.
The president was also briefed about the construction of a flyover and establishment of arts and home economics colleges in the provincial capital.
Earlier, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Balochistan Institute of Technical Education at EME Centre, President Musharraf urged the youths of Balochistan to obtain maximum vocational training and join hands with the government in the development of the province.
He thanked the private sector for helping establish the institute and said it should also provide jobs to the students after they completed their education.
The EME Centre commandant said such institutes would also be set up in Sibi and Sui soon.
