President offers constitutional safegauards on dam

KARACHI, Dec 11: President Pervez Musharraf on Sunday held out an assurance of providing constitutional or any other guarantee that might help build confidence among the provinces on the issue of dams and address their reservations on the construction of water reservoirs. Details

PM invites opposition to discuss KBD
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz extended an invitation to the opposition on Thursday for having a discussion on the issue of the Kalabagh dam (KBD) and sought their comments on the working mechanism of the parliamentary committee on earthquake relief and reconstruction.
The prime minister extended the invitation in a meeting with opposition leaders, including Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Liaquat Baloch, during the National Assembly session.
During the meeting, which lasted for 20 minutes, the prime minister sought a response from the opposition to the government reply to the terms of references proposed by the combined opposition for the parliamentary committee.

He praised the cooperation extended by the opposition in the respect and asked the latter to make its position clear about the issue so that the parliamentary committee could swiftly begin working. He assured the opposition leaders that the committee would be made independent.
Later, talking to newsmen, Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy Chairman Makhdoom Ami Fahim said the prime minister showed his desire to hold discussion with the opposition with regard to the issue of the Kalabagh dam and other issues related to development projects.
He said the prime minister sought from the opposition comments about the working procedure of the parliamentary committee. He added that the opposition would soon take a decision on the matter in a meeting to be held within a day or two. "We will sit within next two days to reply to the government after holding mutual consultations," he added.
Regarding the terms of reference for the parliamentary committee, Fahim said the opposition would take a unanimous decision in this regard. Our Dera Ismail Khan correspondent adds: MMA Secretary-General and National Assembly Opposition Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that a joint opposition meeting in response to the government’s terms of reference would be held in Islamabad on Saturday.
He said he has been invited to attend the meeting in the capacity of opposition leader. Representatives of all the opposition parties would attend the meeting, he added. Rehman termed the Kalabagh dam "a dead horse". "No one can deny the importance of big dams, but Kalabagh dam is a controversial issue. The government should instead focus attention on Bhasha, Munda and Kalam dams, which are not controversial," he remarked.

Kalabagh issue meant to misguide nation: Benazir
KARACHI: Benazir Bhutto, the ex-prime minister and the Chairperson of the PPP, has accused the regime of trying to divert the attention of the nation from its failure in providing adequate relief and rehabilitation to earthquake victims by raising the Kalabagh Dam issue once again.
The exiled leader said this in a statement issued from Bilawal House on Thursday, alleging that for the last three decades one military dictator or the other had been trying to divide the country and the people. She added that the raising of Kalabagh Dam issue at this juncture was meant to weaken the opposition against the present dictatorship.
The PPP leader said that three assemblies had voted against the construction of Kalabagh Dam, adding that her party opposed the Kalabagh Dam on three grounds - it was against the federal principle and therefore illegal; it would not resolve the water issue; and it would further add to the debt burden of the country crushing common people.
Benazir said that the father of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had founded Pakistan as a federation and pointed out that the people of Punjab, who had given sacrifices during partition, would never want to endanger the federation by building a proposed dam that has outrightly been rejected by three of the federating units.
She urged the people of the country to get united in defeating "the designs of the dictatorial regime" and jointly oppose any act, which goes against federalism, against the strength and unity of the country and against the welfare of the common people.
The PPP leader asked the regime to rather rebuild Muzzafarabad, Balakot and other earthquake-affected areas of the country as well as make allocations for schools, hospitals, sanitation, water supply, strengthen irrigation canals, flood control and employment generation instead of wasting funds on white elephant projects such as the second GHQ in Islamabad when an adequate one already exists.
KHAR: Meanwhile, former Punjab Governor Ghulam Mustafa Khar called on Benazir Bhutto in Dubai the other day and assured of his loyalty with the PPP and its leadership.
He said he would like to help the party by mobilising its workers, particularly in Punjab. The former governor said that he was not interested in achieving a party office but in assisting the party in its campaign for the restoration of democracy as well as seeing the success of the party manifesto in the forthcoming general elections.

-The News International

Provincial autonomy stance to remain intact, says Achakzai
PESHAWAR: Chief of Pakthoonkhawa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and Member National Assembly (MNA) Mehmood Khan Achakzai has said his party will not budge an inch from its principled stand on the provincial autonomy and rights of oppressed nations, who he added were forced to undergo starvation in the country obtained in the name of Islam.He was addressing the gathering of PkMAP workers at the jam-packed Nishtar Hall Thursday in connection with the 32nd death anniversary of late Abdus Samad Khan Achakzai, the nationalist leader. He said: “Withdrawing from our stand means we are coward but we will show to the world that Pakhtoons could embrace death when it comes to a matter of their honour.”He said Pakhtoons elders fought against the British Empire in the past, forcing them out of sub-continent and their successors were ready to fight with the same zeal against the followers of father of the nation. Coming hard on Punjab, he said instead of playing the role of elder brother, a particular class in Punjab was busy usurping the rights of small federating units, thus compelling them to resort to armed struggle for their inborn rights. Achakzai said his party had decided to move the federal government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against its act of depriving what he called Pakhtoonkhawa of its right over its water, extending a gigantic canal from Indus River to Punjab through Gazi Barotha project. Commenting on the federal government notions on construction of big water reservoirs, the nationalist leader said Pakhtoon could die but would never allow the construction of Kalabagh Dam (KBD). “The government is talking of seeking consensus on KBD and we consider as Kufr saying even a single word in support of the dam project. Pakhtoon leaders should mobilise masses how to destroy the project if the government seriously kicked off work on this anti state project,” Achakzai said. Quoting Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, he said the minister had once told him about 30,000 megawatt electricity could be generated if the government constructed small dams on Swat River. Referring to the oil and gas reserves discovered in NWFP, PkMAP leader suggested for the convening of a grand Pakhtoon Jirga to decide how to get control over the Gurgori and Shakardara gas and oil fields. Several resolutions were also passed on the occasion that included empowerment of people in tribal areas, relief work in quake-hit areas by the elected representatives instead of army, payment of Rs 200,000 to each family and putting an end to army role in political affairs. The occasion was addressed among others by PkMAP provincial president Mukhtar Yousafzai, former minister Bashir Khan Matta and Dr Syed Alam Mahsood.

-The Post