JACOBABAD, Aug 5: Federal minister for privatization, Dr Hafeez Shaikh, has said foreign investors are reluctant to invest in the country due to poor law and order. Speaking at a gathering at the Taluka nazim office on Thursday, he said governments here could not last long to implement bilateral contracts.

He said the district government system had replaced the colonial system and this was due to the efforts of President General Pervez Musharraf. Mr Shaikh said if funds allocated to district governments were properly utilised, it could change people's life.

He said he had issued directives to bank managers to give loans to small enterprise holders in Thul and Kandhkot talukas. He said President General Pervez Musharraf had given a new touch to the Pakistan politics.

The minister deplored that the water supply scheme for Jacobabad had not materialised as yet. He said when he was Sindh minister, Rs140 million were allocated but the scheme was dropped and money lapsed.

POWER CUT: Hesco authorities on Thursday disconnected 1,500 connections and fined Rs15,000 on defaulters and electricity thieves. The Hesco vigilant committee, comprising SDO Mushtaque Soomro and other staff also disconnected 115 connections of air- conditioners illegally installed by consumers. Mr Soomro claimed electricity theft had been curtailed by four per cent in the sub-division.