ABBOTTABAD, March 27: All the international agreements being signed under the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime intend to establish the monopoly of multinational corporations in every field of economy.
This was stated by speakers in a one-day seminar organized by the SUNGI Development Foundation at Takia Sheikh — a village some 30km from here. The seminar was part of a countrywide campaign SUNGI has launched to create awareness on the implications of WTO regime on agriculture sector of the country. Those who addressed the seminar were Gulfam Dogar of National Resource Management Programme, Azhar Lashary of the Advocacy Support Unit, Faisal Younis, Tariq Baig and Dr Shugufta Altaf.
Gulfam Dogar, while criticizing different agreements of WTO, said food would be used as a weapon in the future global conflicts. He said under the agreement of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) different plant varieties and animal species would be patented following which the local farmers will lose free access to these natural resources and be totally dependent upon the multinational companies having patent rights.
Azahr Lashary said that the developed countries were linking the World Bank and IMF aid to signing of the WTO agreements by the developing countries. He said all these “brutal” and “unjust” agreements were meant to increase the political and economic control of the developed countries over the developing ones.
Dr Shugufta Altaf, while terming the WTO regime a manifestation of neo-colonialism, said the developed countries wanted to enslave the developing countries. She added that such agreements were perilous not only in the sphere of public health, environment and local economy but were equally detrimental to the state sovereignty.
NADRA: DG Nadra had ordered early completion of NADRA Swift Centre at Abbottabad which will be the second of its kind in the NWFP.
The NWFP governor will inaugurate the first centre at Peshawar on March 28 while Abbottabad Centre will start working from March 30.
The citizens would be able to avail themselves of all the facilities under one roof. They will be provided computerized National Identity Cards in the shortest time once this centre starts functioning, the Nadra DG said.
Khalid Jadoon, District Registrar, said that applicants had to wait for a long time to get back their NIC from Islamabad but from now onwards they will be getting it from local centre.