Sikandar vows to foil 'conspiracies'

Published October 16, 2004

MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 15: AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat on Friday said that the 'crisis and conspiracies' could not unnerve him because he had got enough potential to handle such situations.

"Allah has granted me lot of nerve to cope with such situations, but what worries me is their adverse impact on the process of development," he told a delegation at his office here, according to a handout.

"Over the past three years, I am constantly confronting negative efforts but I have fully focussed my attention on the uplift of my area and never let such attempts hamper the pace of development," he added.

The PM, according to the handout, told the delegation that Rs60 billion was being spent in five years in connection with Mangla Dam upraising project in the AJK in addition to several other projects worth Rs45 billion, also under way in different areas of the state.

Listing a number of things which he described as achievements of his government, he said vested interests would issue statements against the present setup to accomplish their ulterior designs whereas the silent majority of people was with him.

"Recently, a number of newspapers have also reported in their unbiased analysis that 70 per cent of AJK's silent majority is in favour of my completing the five year term in office."

The PM said he would tour the state after Eidul Fitr to address the problems of party workers. "They say that workers are angry with me whereas the fact is that they are happy with my government which has delivered in the true sense of the word," he said.

"If the workers do not feel happy with the construction of roads, establishment and upgrading of educational and health care institutions, then what makes them happy," he asked, adding that he would continue to do such jobs for the workers but would not blackmail them in the name of political expediency.

The PM said he had tried his best to maintain the rule of law in the sensitive region of AJK besides strengthening the institutions and letting the democratic system function successfully. "To me, institutions and not individuals are important. People come and go but they should work for the consolidation of the institutions," he said.