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LAHORE, Jan 13: President Musharraf's interview with a TV channel in which he had warned the Baloch nationalists came under criticism in the Punjab Assembly on Thursday.
On a point of order, PPP's Samiullah Khan said Gen Musharraf should have observed restraint. He said since Balochistan was a sensitive issue, both the sides should behave sensibly instead of hurling threats.
Law Minister Raja Basharat said for the first time in the history of the country a federal parliamentary committee headed by Chaudhry Shujaat Husain had been formed to settle the Balochistan issue. The step, he said, had been applauded by even those who had been talking against integrity of the country.
He hoped that the body would soon give recommendations for solving the problem. Earlier, Rana Aftab drew attention of Speaker Afzal Sahi towards delay in the start of the session which had become a routine.
The chair said it happened only a couple of times and that, too, with the consent of the opposition. The speaker said even today (Thursday) he had reached almost in time in the assembly chambers after attending Qul ceremony of Chaudhry Manzoor Elahi in Gujrat. The delay, he said, was due to the Asr prayers break.
TOLL TAX: Minister for Communication and Works Ch Zaheeruddin told the House that the toll tax collected by the NHA was not shared with the provincial government rather the entire amount was used for the reconstruction and maintenance of highways and bridges, reports APP.
He was responding to a question by Syed Ehsanullah Waqas during the question-hour that the Punjab government had constructed a number of bridges but the toll was being collected by the National Highway Authority and no portion of its income was given to the province.
Responding to a supplementary by Samiullah, he said the NHA did exempt military personnel from the tax but this facility was not extended to parliamentarians and members of the provincial assembly. He said his proposal for exempting MNAs and MPAs from the toll tax could be taken up with the relevant quarters.
To another question about the repair of the old Ravi bridge, he said an amount of Rs150,196 was spent on it. When he was told the allocation was "meagre", the minister said when repair of the bridge could be carried out with the allocation, there was no need to spend more on it.
He maintained that the repair and reconstruction of roads across the province was carried out keeping in view the importance of roads without any discrimination.
To a question from Ali Hassan Raza about the Chiniot-Chak Jhumra road, the minister said expansion work had been given to four firms and hopefully it would be completed by June 2005. Speaker Afzal Sahi who was chairing the house said the chief minister had sanctioned Rs200 million for the project.
Opposition's Rana Aftab who seemed shocked on learning about the allocation, said opposition members were not being given development funds for their areas but a big amount had been allocated for one road. Sahi said the road was an important artery which would facilitate people of three districts and not just people of Chak Jhumra.
