Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday said that the government would take
on board all the stakeholders regarding the issue of new provinces,
adding that calls for creating new provinces have been growing louder
with politicians and activists demanding provincial status for
Bahawalpur, Hazara and Seraiki belt.
Addressing a press conference in Multan, Prime Minister Gilani said
law and order in the cases of Karachi and Balochistan were essentially
provincial issues.
He further expressed hope that peace would be restored in Karachi
and said Pakistan’s security issues had an inextricable link with the
conflict in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Gilani said all economic indicators are positive due
to the prudent economic policies of the government .He said the foreign
exchange reserves have rose to eighteen point three zero billions
dollars and the export volume has reached to twenty six billion dollars.
PM Gilani said consultations over Saraiki province were underway and
a final decision in this regard would be made by Pakistan People’s
Party (PPP) advisory Committee.
To a question about the plight of Pakistan Railways, the premier
said the cabinet had decided to restructure the Railways and very soon
its restructuring would be initiated.
He said that the Minister of Railways Ghulam Ahmed Billour is a
competent person, adding that the destruction of railway had been
started well ahead of Billour period.
Gilani also said his government has maintained working relationship with all political parties.
Prime minister said that the government is reorganizing eight
department of the government, including Pakistan railways. He said new
Boards of Directors would be constituted that will improve the
condition of these organizations.
He said that the government not anything which would be against the national interest of the country.
He said that Pakistan faced $ 10 billion loss during the last year’s
floods, adding that Asian Development Bank, World Bank and other
financial institutions of the world supported Pakistan during the
rehabilitation work in flood-affected areas. He said the damage need
assessment was done with the help of international organizations and
ten billion dollars damage was estimated after the last year’s
devastating floods. He said amount for the construction of protective
dykes has been released to the provinces. SANA
