The NWFP government on Tuesday called for convening the meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) before National Finance Commission (NFC) meeting to discuss all outstanding issues between the Federal government and the province. Briefing journalists, NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussein warned that if the CCI meeting was not convened, the provincial government would take a decision to attend or boycott the NFC meeting.
The demand was made during a meeting on the NFC held here with Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti in the chair. The was attended by Finance Minister Mohammad Hamayun Khan, NWFP private member on NFC Senator Haji Mohammad Adeel, Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour and other concerned officials of the Finance Department.
During the meeting, consultant of the NWFP government on NFC Khalid Aziz gave a detailed briefing on the matter. The meeting discussed both options of participating and boycotting of the NFC meeting in the presence of the important issues and their resolution before the resolution of the problems.
He said since a number of disputes with the Federal government were pending for last several years and needed resolutions, the CCI meeting before the NFC meeting was necessary. The problems, he identified, were included outstanding issue of the net-profit on hydropower generation, Abiyana, destruction of the infrastructure in the war on terror, preparing of a long-term strategy for the rehabilitation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) with the funds of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan (FoDP).
He said that the terms of reference of the NFC had always been prepared by the Federal government without consulting the provincial governments. In case of consolations with the provinces, the provincial governments would have presented their proposals and would have prepared strategy for it. But, unfortunately, no such practice was made before the preparation of the terms of reference, he added.
The provincial government, he said, also wanted the resolution of the problems of IDPs and terrorism faced by it. These issues, he added, had inflicted loss of billion of dollars on the economy of the poor province. All sectors, including education, health, tourism, industries and trade, had been badly affected, he added.
In Hayatabad industrial estate, he said, over 35 percent units were on the verge of closure, while 2,500 women working in the cosmetic industry of Swat had been rendered jobless. Furthermore, he said that the law-enforcement agencies had also suffered a lot in the war on terror and their re-strengthening and restructure had become inevitable. Otherwise, he said, the winning of war would not be possible, which would not be in the interest of the nation and international community.
Mian Iftikhar Hussein, who is also official spokesman of the coalition government, said that since the signing of the Water Accord 1991, other provinces had collected billion of rupees in head of water tax increasing their revenue. The NWFP government, he said, had a huge amount of Rs 82 billion against other provinces. The amount, the meeting observed, should be paid immediately to the provincial government
He said that the war on terror in tribal area rendered thousands of tribesmen displaced. These tribesmen, he said, were their brothers and they had always considered them as their own people. But, he said as the matter was relating to the economy and these people needed both education and health facilities, while the Federal government was not extending any support to the provincial government.
In such a situation, Mian Iftikhar said that they were reviewing their decision to sit or boycott the NFC meeting. To a question, he said that he had demanded of the Federal government to resolve the outstanding problems immediately, saying the lack of attention to them would create further problems. "The resolution of the outstanding problems before the NFC would help remove difficulties in preparation of strategy for the province," Mian Iftikhar said.
"Since the development of consensus on the NFC awards take time, therefore, the Federal government should convene a meeting of the CCI to resolve the outstanding issues," he said. To another question, he said the committee constituted for the resolution of the problem of outstanding in the head of net profit on hydropower generation had proved fruitful.
The Federal and provincial governments had agreed on a formula on the implementation of the decision of the arbitration tribunal, he added. He said the NWFP government had made a strong case for the province in the NFC and all preparations had been completed on technical basis.
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