QUETTA: Admitting hindrances being faced due to security situation in the area, Chief Minister Balochistan Dr Abdul Malik Baloch Tuesday briefed the media on the ongoing relief work in the troubled Awaran district of Balochistan.
Dr Baloch reached here on Tuesday after spending five days in Awaran, affected by an earthquake measuring 7.7 magnitudes on reactor scale on September 24.
Parliamentary leader Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) Rahim Ziaratwal, Chief Secretary Balochistan Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad and others flanked the CM during a press conference he was speaking to.
The chief minister said the earthquake has affected 25,000 families in Awaran district and left more than 100,000 people homeless. “Mashkay is the worst affected area of Awaran district,” he added.
Dr Baloch said people of the areas were extremely poor and their rehabilitation was indeed a difficult task for the government. “Their complete rehabilitation was difficult for government.”
Referring to security situation in Awaran, he admitted, “there is no ideal situation, yes there are problems.” He said relief and rescue workers were facing obstacles in their operations in Awaran's most troubled part of Mashkay.
“For ten years there was no government in Awaran,” Dr Baloch said while referring to presence of Baloch insurgents in the area. “Despite all odds, we launched a successful operation in the area,” he added.
He said the provincial government has given clear instructions to the government employees of remaining in Awaran district at all cost, adding that failure to abide by will result in their disposal.
The chief minister admitted that tents provided by relief workers in Mashkay were burnt down by the miscreants. “Yes some people burnt tents,” Dr Baloch said cautioning the media about plight of the earthquake survivors rather than highlighting militant attacks in the sparsely populated troubled district of Balochistan.
He said there were security problems and the situation was different from other parts of the province.
Informing about the relief work, Chief Minister Baloch said 2,700 food packets, 25,000 tents and other relief goods were provided to the earthquake affected people in Awaran. He said there was zero tolerance for those plundering relief goods for the earthquake survivors.
Dr Baloch said if relief goods were recovered from any shop or person, he or she would be tried in an anti terrorist court. He urged upon all political parties to come forward and support the earthquake survivors in this hour of trouble.
Urging for foreign aid, the chief minister reiterated that rehabilitation of the earthquake-affected people was not possible without the support of international community and the United Nations.
