Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Jaffar Mandokhel moved the motion “This [Power outages] issue must be discussed and government should evolve an immediate solution,” he said.
Mandokhel said Balochistan’s mainstay is agriculture which has been severely affected by power outages. “’Around 80 per cent of the total population is dependent on agriculture but the crops and water supply schemes are being affected negatively due to power cuts while enraged protesters are blocking the national highways on a daily basis forcing the government to resolve the issue,” he added.
Law makers also suggested that government should take initiatives to lay down a transmission line between Khuzdar and Dadu and also between Dera Gazi Khan and Loralai transmission line as alternate sources of power supply to the province. Majority of the members demanded establishment of two rental power plants to end the increasing number of power cuts.
Earlier, Minister Zahoor Bulaidai, talking on a point of order said that Iranian forces invaded Pakistan territory two days ago and opened indiscriminate fire on innocent people. “Ironically, the border force did not make any effort to stop the foreign forces from violating the sanctity of our frontiers,” Bulaidai and added that the government should call the Iranian ambassador to register protest with him. In reply, speaker Aslam Bhootani asked the minister for law and parliamentarian affairs to take up the issue with the federal government.
Doctor’s Protest
Speaker Balochistan Assembly Aslam Bhootani also constituted a committee to hold talks with the protesting doctors, asking the committee to submit a comprehensive report in three days.
Talking on a point of order, Sadiq Umrani said doctors have not been performing their duties for the past several weeks which has caused a lot of inconvenience for patients.
“If any patient dies because of doctor’s negligence, an FIR must be lodged against the concerned,” he said
Arguing over the issue, Minister for Agriculture Assadullah Baloch said that three doctors have been missing for the past six months while some were killed. He added that the government should take measures to address the grievances of doctors rather than taking action against them.
Legislations
The Balochistan Assembly approved two bills as well. The ‘Balochistan Cultural Heritage Preservation Act, 2010’ was tabled by Minister Saleem Khosa while Minister Ruqia Saeed Hashmi tabled the ‘Balochistan Land Laws (Amendment) Act-2010’.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 2nd, 2010.
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