Politicians having the ‘March Syndrome’ are not afraid of the Senate election, in fact they fear the credit the coalition government will get by presenting the fifth consecutive budget of its tenure, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday.
Addressing the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the world’s highest concrete dam on River Indus, the Diamir-Bhasha Dam, Gilani said the government would come up with several new development projects in the next budget that would bring in more stability.
The prime minister called the $12 billion Diamir-Bhasha Dam project a “lifeline” for the national economy that would help meet the country’s future agricultural and power requirements. The dam will generate 19 billion units of electricity a year and enhance the life of Tarbela Dam by over 35 years.
The prime minister called it a historic day and praised the people of Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and their political leadership for standing united to initiate the mega project. He said the gigantic project would generate 4,500MW of electricity and store over eight million acre feet of water to meet the country’s growing power and irrigation needs.
Gilani said that taking clue from the fate of the Kalabagh Dam, which fell victim to some politicians who kept on playing to the galleries, he decided to take all stakeholders on board. He praised the political acumen of all parties for backing the project.
Gilani said he and his government had no interest in “clinging to power” because the public service could be done by being in the opposition as well. Gilani said the multitude of problems the country was facing could not be resolved by a single leader or any particular party and all political leaders and parties needed to stand united to work for the progress of the country. Gilani said agreements had been signed with China for the construction of the 165km Jaglot-Skardu and 135km long Jaglot-Sazin roads. Gilani announced Rs 200 million for Diamir district for setting up an engineering faculty at the KKH University, which would be later upgraded to a separate engineering university.
He also directed setting up of a cadet college at Chillas, while announcing an additional amount of Rs 1 billion to the government of GB for Karakoram Highway and other roads projects.
Referring to a demand for a road from Ghizer to Tajikistan, the prime minister said talks were underway with the governments of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, as the government was desirous of having connectivity with Central Asian Republics.
