QUETTA, Jan 22: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf has expressed concern over delay in the installation of a desalination plant in Gwadar and said it is causing huge financial losses to the provincial government.

Presiding over a meeting in Gwadar on Monday, he said that despite the fact that funds had been provided, the firm concerned had not started work on the plant and that was affecting construction work in the Gwadar Industrial Estate and in the Gwadar township.

Gwadar Industrial Estate project director M. B. Magsi briefed the meeting on the progress of work on the 200,000 gallons desalination plant.

The chief minister expressed his dissatisfaction over the progress on the project and directed Mr Magsi to issue a notice to the firm building the plant.

The meeting also reviewed the work under way on the Gwadar Industrial Estate and noted that due to non-availability of water, industrialists could not take up construction work.

The chief minister said industrialists should be given possession of allotted land to enable them to start construction.

“No negligence will be tolerated in installation of the desalination plant and completion of the development work in the Gwadar Industrial Estate,” Jam Yousuf said.

The chief minister asked the Gwadar DCO to issue directives to people who had been allotted residential and commercial plots in the Singhar Housing Scheme to immediately start construction work.

Gwadar Development Authority director-general Ahmad Bakhsh Lahri briefed the meeting on work done by the authority in Gwadar and Balochistan Development Authority chairman Mohammad Farooq on development projects.

The meeting also discussed a tourism-related project in Gwadar and decided that tourism spots would be developed in Gwadar to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

Tourism secretary Mohammad Ayub Baloch brief the meeting on proposed projects for promotion of tourism in Gwadar and other coastal areas.

After the meeting, the chief minister, Finance Minister Syed Ehsan Shah and Culture and Tourism Minister Syed Sher Jan Baloch visited the Gwadar industrial zone, proposed site for the new airport, and development projects launched under the Gwadar Master Plan.

COALFIELD: The Chamalang coalfield area will be landmine-free, enabling operators to start mining within the next two weeks.

This was stated by Field Commander Brig Mohammad Saqib while briefing journalists, who visited the area on Monday.

He said that despite rocket attacks and other difficulties, security personnel was making good progress on clearing the area of landmines planted by saboteurs. He was briefing journalists, who visited the area on Monday.

“Troops have so far cleared landmines from at least 65 per cent of the coalfield area,” he said, adding that anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines had been planted. “We are trying our level best to make the coalmine operational as soon as possible,” he said.

Referring to the coalfield, he said that it was 60 kilometres long and seven kilometres wide, 45 kilometres north of Kohlu. He said that the coalfield had been discovered in 1973 but mining could not be started because of a dispute over ownership rights between Marri and Luni tribes.

“During the past 34 years, more than 50 people have been killed in clashes between the two tribes,” he said. He said that the dispute had been resolved on Dec 6, 2006 after reaching on a tripartite agreement between the Marri and Luni tribes and the government.

He said that Commander of the 41st Div Major-General Mohammad Farooq had played an important role in striking a truce between the warring tribes.

Brig Saqib said that the coalmine’s daily production would be nearly 6,000 tons with a monthly income of Rs100 million and a potential to generate a revenue amounting to Rs30 billion annually.

“When mining starts, coalfield will help generate anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000 jobs for local people. The mine will also help create thousands of additional jobs once this remote area is transformed into a developed town as markets, shops, hotels, restaurants, schools and hospitals will be established around it,” he said.

He said that work on the Loralai-Kingri road was in progress while the government had approved the construction of the Mekhtar-Chamalang road and work on it would be launched soon. He said that electricity would soon be provided to 50 villages of Marri and Luni tribes. Moreover four tubewells would also be installed while telephone facility would also be provided in the area.

The Field Commander said that the coalfield’s technical committee had recently approved projects worth Rs1.319 billion under the Chamalang Workers Welfare Fund, adding that the amount would be used to build school, hospital, living quarters for 10,000 workers as well as a housing scheme for miners.

Referring to the coalfield’s security, Brig Saqib said that the area’s security would be looked after by law-enforcement agencies, including the Balochistan Constabulary, Levies and the newly-developed Marri Force.