Army engineers sent to Bam for relief work
QUETTA, Jan 3: Pakistan Army dispatched a contingent of engineers Bam, recently devastated by the earthquake, to take part in relief operations, said an ISPR statement issued here on Saturday.
The statement said the contingent of 200 men, led by Lt Colonel Shabir Ahmed, and equipped with bulldozers, graders, dumpers, and other heavy engineering machinery, left by road from Quetta for Bam on Saturday.
DRUGS SEIZED: The Anti-Narcotics Force of Dalbandin seized 190 kgs of morphine and 50 kgs of hashish near the Gridi Jungle of Chagai district, and arrested a suspect.
BNP-M: The Balochistan National Party (Mengal) has threatened to observe wheel jam strike on Tuesday in Kharan if its activists and leaders are not released immediately.
Speaking at a press conference here on Saturday, BNP-M senior vice-president Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldani and secretary-general Habib Jalib Baloch accused the provincial government of harassing and arresting BNP activists.
They said the government had arrested Haji Ghulam Hussain, Wali Khan and Mahmood Khan from Kharan besides raids were being conducted to book other activists of the BNP and maintained that such negative tactics would be resisted.
They blamed the establishment for using the prime minister and the Balochistan chief minister to loot the resources of the province in the name of so-called development projects.
The BNP leaders also criticized the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal for betraying people by signing anti-democratic agreement in shape of 17th constitutional amendment.
OPPOSITION: Opposition political parties of Balochistan have criticized the induction of 16 new ministers in the provincial cabinet, stating that the step was taken to appease the coalition partners at the cost of the poor masses.
In separate statements on Saturday, politicians alleged that the expansion of cabinet would be a big burden on the treasury as the provincial government was already in the grip of financial constraints.
Opposition leader in the Balochistan assembly, Kachkol Ali Baloch; Muhammad Akbar Mengal, parliamentary leader of the BNP-M; Naseem Turyala, MPA of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party; Rehmat Ali Baloch, MPA of the National Party; Shafique Ahmed Khan, MPA of the PPP, and the Awami National Party castigated the government policies.
They claimed that the coalition government, comprising the Pakistan Muslim League, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the National Alliance, could serve the masses with a sizeable cabinet instead of the largest one.
They observed that the coalition government, which enjoyed the backing of the federal government, could have resolved the problems confronted by the people in Balochistan, but during the last 15 months, the rulers failed to help uplift the people.
ROUTE PERMITS: Revenue and Transport Minister Mir Asim Kurd Gallo has said the government will frame a policy to issue new route permits to the deserving transporters only, says APP.
The minister presided over a meeting here on Saturday to review problems being faced by transporters.
He said a committee would be set up to draw a policy in this regard. Transporters would also be given representation in the committee, he added.
He said the government was determined to eliminate irregularities in issuance of route permits and resolving transporters' problems.
He urged transporters to cooperate with the government to frame policy for their welfare.
The representatives of the transporters on the occasion drew the minister's attention to their problems and opposed issuance of new route permits arguing that a number of cases were pending in courts regarding the permits.
They vowed not to come under pressure by district Nazims who, they claimed, were trying to obtain new route permits for their relatives.