QUETTA: Provincial ministers have rejected claims of opposition parties and said the coalition government led by Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani has carried out massive development projects in every field across Balochistan.

Speaking at a joint news conference at Quetta Press Club on Tuesday, Finance Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, Home Minister Ziaullah Langove, Minister for Revenue Mir Saleem Ahmed Khosa, Adviser to the CM on Information Bushra Rind, Adviser on Sports and Culture Abdul Khaliq Hazara and parliamentary secretaries Mobin Khilji and Mahjabeen Sheeran claimed that the province was becoming economically stronger with every step taken by the government.

They said the government would soon introduce health insurance cards to allow people to get medical treatment from any government and private hospitals across the province.

Finance Minister Mir Zahoor Buledi said the government would in the upcoming budget give special attention to the schemes which would benefit the people.

“We will provide maximum funds for the provincial Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), which would be based on equal development of all the districts of Balochistan, and the funds would be allocated for all areas without any discrimination,” he said.

Buledi says maximum funds will be allocated for equal development of all districts

Mr Buledi said Rs40 billion of the current PSDP had not lapsed as claimed by the opposition. He said hundreds of schemes were included in the PSDP and if some of them could not be implemented due to some reason funds for them would be included in the next budget.

He said the coalition government had given attention to health, education, communication, mines and minerals, water supply and several other sectors.

The minister said that construction of the Quetta-Karachi National Highway double carriageway had been approved and work on it would be launched in the next financial year.

He said for the first time the federal government had approved development schemes worth Rs162bn suggested by the provincial government.

He said work on various road projects of Quetta would be completed soon to resolve traffic issues of the provincial capital.

Mr Buledi said that 80 per cent work on a cancer hospital had been completed, while a cardiac hospital in Nawan Killi would start working in a couple of months.

He said so far as opposition’s allegations of corruption and misuse of funds were concerned they should come forward if they had any proof.

“We have spent Rs73bn on the projects included in the current PSDP,” he said, adding that some schemes could not be implemented due to court orders on the petitions filed by the opposition parties.

The finance minister said the government had provided 20,000 jobs to the people but the appointment letters to the candidates selected for Levies posts could not be issued due to court orders. He said the provincial government was constructing many dams to resolve the water issue, while some dams had already been completed.

He said 39 colleges and several high and middle schools had been upgraded in the province.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2021