Musharraf condemns loss of innocent lives in Lebanon
Aziz Malik 'Pakistan Times' Federal Bureau Chief

CHAKWAL: President General Pervez Musharraf while strongly condemning the loss of innocent lives in Lebanon by Israeli attacks has called for an immediate ceasefire and a political solution to the conflict.

The issue has to be resolved through talks and the Palestinian people have to get their own homeland,” the President told a public gathering of thousands here after the inauguration of the Choa Saidan Shah Cadet College around 110 km from capital Islamabad.

We strongly condemn the Israeli attack against Lebanon, and the killing of innocent civilians including women and children,” he told the large crowd and said the people and government of Pakistan stood by their Lebanese brethren in their hour of trial.

The President also announced a feasibility study to restore Chakwal’s rail link with the rest of the country, keeping in view the construction of three new cement factories and directed the Railway minister for an immediate study.

He said Chakwal was the centre of the marshal belt and the people of the area played a key role in strengthening the national defence by serving in the armed forces. He lauded the role of Pakistan army in coming to the rescue whenever the nation needed; whether it was an earthquake or a flood.

He said the Cadet College will be a gift for the people of Chakwal.

In this regard he noted the efforts of Minister for Kashmir Affairs and the Zila Nazim that yielded the result.

President Musharraf said the government has accorded high priority to the education sector and particularly noted the initiative of the Punjab government in this respect.

“Pakistan can make real progress in industrialization and development only by seeking higher education,” the President said.

He said under the government’s strategy an additional Rs 100 billion will be provided for the improvement of the education system in the country. The curriculum will be modernized, educational infrastructure, particularly in the rural areas will be improved, besides enhancing the teacher training facilities.

President Musharraf said, it was ironic that despite being a nuclear power, the literacy level was still low but vowed that secondary and vocational training would be imparted to the youth across the country.

Literacy Level

He said in the past it was the lack of will, rather than the dearth of resources that prevented initiation of new projects. He said under the new Public Sector Development Programme only the Punjab has Rs 100 billion for development, whereas in the 1990s the total amount in the federal budget was merely around Rs 70 billion.

The President said it was government’s prime objective to transfer the benefits of economic progress to the people, with a focus on provision of electricity, water and gas. He said
by year 2007, all 20 remote villages will have electricity, as part of its plan for electrification of every hamlet of ten houses.

Musharraf said feasibility of provision of natural gas through pipelines and through other means for areas in Chakwal will be studied.

He assured to look into the possibility of construction of Mandra-Chakwal and Sohawa-Chakwal road that would link the district with the Grand Trunk road, easing flow of goods and people.

He also assured provision of safe drinking water to every village with over 100 households. He said a study into the construction of Kambir dam would also be conducted.

He announced Rs 50 million to the Zila Nazim for District Chakwal. He said this would be besides an amount of Rs 700 million already allocated for water and sewerage system in Chakwal.

The president said for the first time in country’s history, both the national and provincial assemblies will complete their full five-year term and the general election will be held in 2007.

The President urged the nation to stand united against all those who were creating feelings of hatred and extremism in the society and asked them to support those who are moderate and support tolerance.

Governor Punjab General (Retd) Khalid Maqbool appreciated President Musharraf for raising his voice against the killing of innocent citzen of Lebanon and said he always spoke about the oppressed people of Palestine and Kashmir.

Chief Minister Punjab Ch. Pervaiz Elahi said unprecedented amount of funds has been allocated for development schemes across the Punjab.

He said in only three years time the government has allocated Rs four billion for different schemes in Chakwal district including five small dams. He said the new cement factories will provide employment to 135,000 people.

Minister for Kashmir Affairs Tahir Iqbal said the people of Chakwal fully endorse the national and international policies of President Musharraf and see him as a saviour. He thanked the President on behalf of the people of Chakwal for the Cadet College and several development schemes.

Zila Nazim Chakwal Sardar Ghulam Abbas said the cadet college project was announced way back in 1985, but no progress was made. He said the credit goes to the President for initiating the project to meet the long standing demand of the people of the area.

He said the successful policies have brought in investment of Rs 35 billion with the construction of three cement factories into the district that would also contribute Rs 17 billion annually as revenue into the national kitty

Key to Sustaining Economic Growth

President Musharraf described foreign investment and privatization as the key to the country’s sustainable economic growth and said that the government would continue its policies of de-regulation and liberalization in a transparent manner.

“It is extremely important that we privatize and draw foreign investment into Pakistan”, he said at the inauguration of Bestway Cement Factory near Kalar Kahar built at a cost of US $ 140 million.

The President also laid the foundation stone of second production facility of the Bestway cement that involves investment of US $ 160 million and has capacity to produce 6000 tones of cement per day.

President Musharraf rejected criticism by certain elements of the government’s privatization process and said that it will continue in a transparent manner.

“There is no fraud in the privatization process”, he said and added the privatization is the way forward for Pakistan’s economy and it should and it would continue.

The President said that he was fully supportive of the privatization process and would continue to facilitate foreign investors.

He said that the government policies were attracting foreign investors from all over the world.

He said that foreign investment would help in the country’s economic progress and in creating job opportunities and alleviating poverty.

The President however lamented that certain vested political interests were trying to create obstacles in the way of foreign investment and trying to discredit the country’s privatization policy.

“We are not like them who plundered the country. We are committed to the country’s progress and are working with all sincerity”.

President Musharraf said it was the best time for the cement industry to come up as the country was witnessing a construction boom, resulting in increased demand of the commodity.

In this respect, he referred to various ongoing major projects such as Mirani dam, Gomalzam dam and the future water projects Bhasha dam, Kalabagh dam etc., which he said were all cement-intensive.

There were various infrastructure projects like Lowari Tunnel and roads as the President said Pakistan was also the main source of cement for the reconstruction activities in Afghanistan.

President Musharraf expressed the hope that new cement factories, being set up in the country would, be able to meet nearly 75 per cent demand in about two years’ time.

The Bestway Cement Greenfield factory would produce 6,000 tonnes cement a day while the second facility adjacent to the existing one would have a similar capacity.

The group already owns Mustehkam Cement and envisages that by the end of 2007, the Group’s cement manufacturing capacity would exceed 6.0 tonnes per annum.

President Musharraf said that Pakistan was following export-led development strategy to increase earnings but emphasised the need of shifting focus from textile to heavy industry.

As the country was previously anchored in textile exports that had only 6 per cent share in the world trade, the President said the government took a deliberate decision in 2001 to shift focus on heavy industries and engineering.

He said the government’s prudent economic policies increased earnings and turned the balance of payment from the deficit of 5 billion dollars into surplus of 2 billion dollars.

However, the President said, the balance of payment was in negative for the last two years but added, it was not a cause of concern.

He said, besides oil, it was mainly due to import of heavy machinery that would lead to more industrial production and increased exports in the long-term.

On government’s efforts to increase earnings, the President said that remittances posted more than 400 per cent growth this year to 4.6 billion dollars while the next year’s exports target has been set at more than 18 billion dollars.

Minister for Industries Jehangir Tireen said the government had made economic progress in a transparent manner and was now making efforts to share its benefits with the people at the grassroots level.

The Minister stressed the importance of lowering cost of doing business in Pakistan, not through subsidies, but through a comprehensive strategy that includes skill development and provision of infrastructure in the private sector.

Chief Executive Officer of Bestway Group, Zamir Chaudhri said Pakistan was fast emerging as an ideal place for investment in all industrial sectors.

He said Bestway’s investment in Pakistan has exceeded one billion dollars and the group was still exploring many other ventures.●