KARACHI, July 10: Sindh Governor, Mohammedmian Soomro, has stressed that resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with UN resolutions and wishes of the Kashmiri people would help normalize relations between Pakistan and India.

“There is no other dispute except on the Kashmir issue with India”, he said at the Governor’s House on Wednesday.

He said that there has been no change in policy of the government of President General Pervez Musharraf on the Kashmir issue. “The government has been forcefully projecting its stand on the Kashmir issue,” he added.

The governor said that at all international forums, President Pervez Musharraf has been consistently calling for a solution to Kashmir. He recalled that during the Agra Summit with Indian Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in July, last year, the President emphasized the need for a solution.

Replying to a question, the governor said that Sindh was the first province of the country where the Provincial Finance Commission announced its first award to ensure the judicious distribution of resources between the provincial and district governments. The other three provinces are likely to follow suit.

On achievements of the provincial government, he spoke about the establishment of low-cost housing schemes, constitution of adhoc Public Accounts Committee, provision of matching grants for completing a large number of development schemes under the Khushal Pakistan Programme, provision of land and other facilities for commissioning mega projects announced by federal government in the province.

He said that efforts to resolve the problem of water shortage faced by Sindh for the last few years have borne fruit.

“President Pervez Musharraf granted Rs10 billion for completely revamping and overhauling the irrigation system which had deteriorated considerably in the last 50 years due to various factors.

“Effective steps have also been taken to prevent water wastage and to curb the menace of its theft by influential landlords of the area,” he stated.

He referred to the constituting of a privatization commission to ensure optimum advantage in disposal of defunct state assets in a “fair and transparent manner.”

The object is to attract investment by the private sector and create job opportunities in Sindh. As the first step, the Trauma Centre, abandoned for many years, has been privatized and made functional. Dadu and Thatta sugar mills will soon be privatized too, he added.

Mr Soomro said that the provincial government has streamlined the taxation system to generate more revenue by reducing the number of taxes, simplifying the procedure and rationalizing taxes.

The current Sindh budget and the previous one were “tax free” with the rate of existing taxes not enhanced.

A total of 35 stamp duties out of 67 were abolished, property survey done after 32 years, which added one hundred tax payers to the tax net. A task force has also been set up to rationalize the tax regime further.

Answering another question, the governor said that the present government inherited massive loans and liabilities due to “mismanagement, poor governance and financial indiscipline of past governments.”

He said that “bold and far-reaching” steps were taken to counter this situation which has started to yield positive results. For the first time, a surplus Sindh budget of Rs93.841 for fiscal 2002-2003 was presented and the biggest public-sector development programme with an outlay of Rs14.480 billion was announced.

“Overdraft with the State Bank, which stood at Rs10 billion in 1999, was cleared and blocked amounts with Central Bank, costing the provincial exchequer Rs400 million interest per month, reduced and liabilities of Rs12 billion accumulated by previous governments were paid off.

Cash-development loans, provided by the federal government at the high interest rate of 17.8 per cent are being retired. Over 700 development projects were completed in the province in the last two years,” the governor stated.

He said that priority given to education was evident from the fact that Sindh is the first province of the country that has made education upto Matric compulsory. The government allocated a record amount of Rs18 billion for the education sector in the fiscal 2002-2003, he added.

Other steps include increase in non-salary budget by 100pc, provision of free textbooks to students in all government primary schools, provision of Rs100 to each girl student to ensure continuation of education above primary level, creating fund of Rs0.1 billion for scholarships to bright students. An IT university is also being established at Karachi and IT centres planned in the interior of the province. Moreover, programmes for teachers’ training have also been launched.

The governor said that the non-salary budget of the health sector was raised by 31pc in the budget and Rs 50 million released in fiscal 2001-2002, to purchase modern machinery and equipment for hospitals.

A programme to eliminate TB was launched and constantly monitored. The DOTS (direct observation treatment system) coverage which stood at 31pc in year 2000, has now reached over 70pc of the population. To promote breast-feeding practices, Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative programme was launched by the government with UNICEF support.

Mr Soomro said that in order to promote the agriculture sector, Agro Processing Zone has been set up at Super Highway. A number of reforms were also introduced to streamline this sector.

He said that an agreement was signed with a private Chinese company to develop the Thar coal field in Sindh. The provincial government laid a network of roads in the Thar area to facilitate development of the coal field.

The governor said that the Sindh government succeeded in restoring credibility with foreign donor agencies. A breakthrough agreement was reached with the World Bank, under which interest-free Rs100 million will be provided to Sindh for a period of three years. — PPI