President Zardari addresses PPP members of Sindh Cabinet

December 24, 2009

By Irfan Aligi

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari today met members of the Sindh cabinet belonging to the PPP in Bilawal House in Karachi. The provincial chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah also attended the meeting.

Addressing the Sindh cabinet members the President advised them to step up the work they were doing for addressing the issues of the people and ameliorating the lot of poor and downtrodden. Recalling the last command of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto to the Party on October 16, 2007, which said, “I wish all of you success in fulfilling the manifesto of our Party and in serving the downtrodden, discriminated and oppressed people of Pakistan”, the President asked them to redouble their efforts in serving the masses.

The President said that he was inspired and motivated by Shaheed Mohtarma’s last formal words to the Party that commanded every one to, “Dedicate yourselves to freeing them from poverty and backwardness as you have done in the past”.

President Zardari said that the PPP government could rightly feel proud of its achievements in a number of areas in the light of this command of Shaheed Mohtarma. These achievements, he said, included the NFC Award in nineteen years that addressed the concerns of smaller provinces, the Aghazi Huqooqi Balochistan program, the retreat of militants in Swat and Malakand, the launch of the poverty alleviation program under the name of Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), the international strategic support from the platform of “Friends of Democratic Pakistan”, the reinstatement of sacked employees, the grant of 12 percent shares to workers in state run enterprises, the social and political reforms in Gilgit- Baltistan, the tackling of the energy crisis head on and extricating the country from a near economic meltdown situation.

He said that the government plans to build 32 dams throughout the country. Twelve of these proposed dams will be built in just three years in all the provinces. Out of the twelve dams three will be built in Sindh, he said.

He said that during his last visit China agreed to provide, after the award of contracts, 700 million dollars to finance building these dams. He said that two contracts had already been awarded through international competitive bidding and he will be performing the groundbreaking ceremony during his current visit. It is yet another great achievement of the democratic government, he said.

The dam projects will have special features. The state owned agricultural land in the command areas of the dams would be distributed free among the poor women of the area, the President said.

The free distribution of agricultural land among women is just one measure designed to empower the women as envisioned by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.

He said that the Aghazi Huqooqi Balochistan was a far-reaching initiative. The Federal Government announced withdrawal of army from Sui to be replaced by the Frontier Corps (FC). No new cantonments will be made except in Frontier areas where required. The political exiles returning to Pakistan will be facilitated. All new mega projects will be initiated only with the consent and approval of the provincial government. The federal government will pay arrears of gas development surcharge (GDS) from 1954 to 1991 amounting to Rs. 120 billion in 12 years. The federal government will provide five thousand new jobs in Balochistan for which age limit had also been relaxed.

These measures demonstrated the direction in which the government is moving. This is the compass to take us to the destination, the President said.

He said that Pakistan Peoples Party is the largest political party in Pakistan that is why it always acts and reacts in a responsible and democratic manner and follows the vision and mission of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto with full commitment.

He said PPP was a federation’s and would always strengthen the federation. The President was also briefed on the progress of some of the ongoing developmental projects in the province.