Senator Kakar calls for preventing cut in provincial PSDP funds

Says provincial govt, bureaucracy on same page over simmering issues of Balochistan

QUETTA: Newly-elected Senator Manzoor Kakar has urged the senators and members of the National Assembly from Balochistan to work towards preventing any deduction in the provincial Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) funds.
“I will defend the rights of Balochistan in Islamabad,” vowed the senator while addressing the media at the BAP office on Tuesday.
He said the provincial government and bureaucracy were on the same page over the simmering issues of Balochistan.



“A total of eight senators of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), including myself, have the due responsibility of presenting a strong case of Balochistan in the Senate,” said Kakar while addressing the media at the BAP office on Tuesday.
He vowed that BAP would continue defending the rights of the people of Balochistan.
“After Monday’s Senate election, rumors regarding rifts in the provincial government have proved false because our coalition partners expressed their full support for BAP,” said the senator.



Explaining his stance, Kakar said, “Indeed difference of opinion is beauty of democracy and our party leaders have expressed their differences on many occasions during party meetings, but we cannot call difference of opinion as rifts in BAP.”
He said they had finalised a criteria for releasing party’s statement to the media and the party’s executive body had the right to take action against any worker violating the party policy. “We are going to start disciplinary action within the party,” he added.
The senator stressed the need to pay special attention to the mines and minerals department, saying the province was blessed with natural resources and it was about time they took advantage of it.



Slamming the previous governments for neglecting the mines and minerals department, he said, “The previous governments didn’t pay much attention to natural resources, which resulted in Balochistan’s deprivation.”
The senator said Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan was leading the water and energy issues with the federal government “very responsibly” and the central government had assured that both the issues would be resolved soon.