Fearing security threat: Punjab backs out of Balochistan projects
Provincial health minister lashes out at PML-N for its ‘political agenda’.
LAHORE:
A day after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) pledged to take up the Balochistan issue as a priority, the party’s efforts to portray itself as the vanguard of the reconciliation process suffered a serious setback.
According to sources in both the Punjab and Balochistan governments, the former is likely to back out from previously announced development projects in the violence-plagued province.
Fearing a threat to their lives, no one from the Punjab administration is ready to work in Balochistan or even participate in bidding, sources in both governments informed The Express Tribune. The Punjab government, run by the PML-N, has formally informed the Balochistan administration that the current uprising in the troubled province has forced them to reconsider all of their projects.
The main project in question is the proposed Cardiology Centre in Quetta. According to government data, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had announced the construction of the centre in 2008 and had allocated Rs2 billion from the provincial budget as well as 20 acres of land located near Quetta’s Bolan Medical College.
Well-placed sources in the health department told The Express Tribune that the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) was initially recruited to supervise the project. The deteriorating security situation indicates, however, that, for the immediate future, development projects will remain scarce. A Turkish company that had shown interest in constructing the cardiology centre backed out given the adverse law and order situation.
Damage control
Perhaps aware that the move takes away credibility from the PML-N’s recently-announced pledge to better the lot of Balochistan, the Punjab government tried to carry out some damage control. Sources said the provincial administration told the Balochistan authorities that when PML-N comes to power, it will fulfil all its commitments to the Baloch according to the promises made by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister for Health Khwaja Salman Rafique told The Express Tribune that he would investigate the reasons behind the delay in the implementation of the projects. He pointed out, however, that the security situation in Balochistan was rapidly deteriorating – and fixed responsibility for the uprising on the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government.
Balochistan lashes out
The Punjab government’s anticipation of a backlash was not unfounded.
Balochistan Health Minister Haji Ali Madad Jattak lashed out at the chief minister, saying that four years had lapsed but Sharif’s promises remained unfulfilled – Balochistan is yet to see a cardiology centre as well as a promised kidney centre.
Shahbaz Sharif was not the only one to receive flak from the health minister. PML-N President Nawaz Sharif also came under fire when Jattak said his promise to address the grievances of the Baloch were “hollow”. He added that if Nawaz couldn’t even construct a hospital in Balochistan, then the possibility of his other claims materialising was even less likely.
His criticisms did not stop there – Jattak made his disdain clear when he said the Sharifs were merely playing politics with the people of Balochistan through empty announcements, which were taking advantage of an aggrieved populace.
The provincial health minister also expressed frustration at the immobility of funds, saying the Punjab government also had the option of transferring the money allocated for the cardiology centre to the cash-strapped Balochistan administration, but refused to do so.
This is not the only project that affects Balochistan, to be delayed.
While the Punjab government has increased the quota of Baloch students in Punjab’s educational institutions, it is yet to construct the much-anticipated Ghazi University near the Balochistan border in South Punjab. The Punjab chief minister had announced that half of the total strength of the university’s students would be from Balochistan and would receive free education.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2012.
A day after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) pledged to take up the Balochistan issue as a priority, the party’s efforts to portray itself as the vanguard of the reconciliation process suffered a serious setback.
According to sources in both the Punjab and Balochistan governments, the former is likely to back out from previously announced development projects in the violence-plagued province.
Fearing a threat to their lives, no one from the Punjab administration is ready to work in Balochistan or even participate in bidding, sources in both governments informed The Express Tribune. The Punjab government, run by the PML-N, has formally informed the Balochistan administration that the current uprising in the troubled province has forced them to reconsider all of their projects.
The main project in question is the proposed Cardiology Centre in Quetta. According to government data, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had announced the construction of the centre in 2008 and had allocated Rs2 billion from the provincial budget as well as 20 acres of land located near Quetta’s Bolan Medical College.
Well-placed sources in the health department told The Express Tribune that the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (Nespak) was initially recruited to supervise the project. The deteriorating security situation indicates, however, that, for the immediate future, development projects will remain scarce. A Turkish company that had shown interest in constructing the cardiology centre backed out given the adverse law and order situation.
Damage control
Perhaps aware that the move takes away credibility from the PML-N’s recently-announced pledge to better the lot of Balochistan, the Punjab government tried to carry out some damage control. Sources said the provincial administration told the Balochistan authorities that when PML-N comes to power, it will fulfil all its commitments to the Baloch according to the promises made by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister for Health Khwaja Salman Rafique told The Express Tribune that he would investigate the reasons behind the delay in the implementation of the projects. He pointed out, however, that the security situation in Balochistan was rapidly deteriorating – and fixed responsibility for the uprising on the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government.
Balochistan lashes out
The Punjab government’s anticipation of a backlash was not unfounded.
Balochistan Health Minister Haji Ali Madad Jattak lashed out at the chief minister, saying that four years had lapsed but Sharif’s promises remained unfulfilled – Balochistan is yet to see a cardiology centre as well as a promised kidney centre.
Shahbaz Sharif was not the only one to receive flak from the health minister. PML-N President Nawaz Sharif also came under fire when Jattak said his promise to address the grievances of the Baloch were “hollow”. He added that if Nawaz couldn’t even construct a hospital in Balochistan, then the possibility of his other claims materialising was even less likely.
His criticisms did not stop there – Jattak made his disdain clear when he said the Sharifs were merely playing politics with the people of Balochistan through empty announcements, which were taking advantage of an aggrieved populace.
The provincial health minister also expressed frustration at the immobility of funds, saying the Punjab government also had the option of transferring the money allocated for the cardiology centre to the cash-strapped Balochistan administration, but refused to do so.
This is not the only project that affects Balochistan, to be delayed.
While the Punjab government has increased the quota of Baloch students in Punjab’s educational institutions, it is yet to construct the much-anticipated Ghazi University near the Balochistan border in South Punjab. The Punjab chief minister had announced that half of the total strength of the university’s students would be from Balochistan and would receive free education.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2012.