‘Punjab should decide if it wants Pakistan or the dam’

Minister says three provincial assemblies unanimously rejected Kalabagh Dam but Punjab wants to go ahead with it.

KARACHI: “The Punjab government should decide whether it wants Kalabagh Dam or Pakistan,” said Sindh Minister for Interprovincial Coordination Makhdoom Jameeluz Zaman at a seminar on Saturday.

Zaman said that three provincial assemblies have unanimously rejected the Kalabagh Dam Scheme but Punjab wants to go ahead with the plan to build it.

Addressing a seminar on the impact of the 18th amendment on interprovincial harmony, the minister said that a meeting of the four provinces with be held soon to discuss the issue of Kalabagh Dam.

He hoped that the project will be thrown out by the three provinces, which will give the message to the ‘big brother’ (Punjab) that people of Pakistan do not want the dam.

Taj Haider, general secretary of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Sindh, said that the 18th amendment has helped make all provinces fully independent and now the federal government will not be able to usurp any of their resources.

He said Sindh contributes 60 per cent of the Zakat generated in the country but is given back its share on a population basis, which is unjust. He said that now that the 18th amendment has been promulgated any province can knock on the door of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) and demand justice. He said that even big authorities like Port Qasim will not work under the direct supervision of the federal government and will now be looked after by the CCI.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2010.