Promises resettlement of displaced communities if party forms government in Gilgit-Baltistan
DIAMETER:
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Wednesday called on the federal government to speed up the completion of the Diamer-Bhasha dam and promised to solve the resettlement problems of communities displaced by the mega project if his party wins the June 7 elections.
The Bhutto clan is on a tour of Gilgit-Baltistan, where the PPP and other political parties have stepped up efforts in recent days to mobilize voters ahead of polls.
Addressing a public gathering in Diamer, Bilawal maintained that the project had made significant progress under the PPP government. He maintained that the Bhasha-Diamer dam would already be operational if the government led by President Asif Ali Zardari remained in office after 2013.
Bilawal expressed regret that the resettlement concerns of people affected by the dam had not yet been resolved.
“I would like to promise you that after 7 June – when the PPP forms a government in GB – we will ensure that the work is [completed] and as far as resettlement is concerned, we will address it immediately,” Bilawal said.
The construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam has affected thousands of people in several villages. Displaced residents are demanding that the federal government compensate them for the land they gave up for the construction of the dam.
In February last year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appointed a seven-member committee to review the protesters’ demands and address their grievances.
The OPP chairman urged the Center to prioritize the construction of the dam. “This is not only the right of the people of Diamer but it is a necessity for Pakistan,” he remarked.
“No project is more important for Pakistan at the moment than the Diamer-Bhasha Dam,” Bilawal stressed and urged the prime minister to speed up work on the project.
“We have heard about your ‘Shehbaz speed’ in Lahore [..] please also show your ‘Shehbaz speed’ to the people of Diamer and ensure the completion of the project,” he said.
The Bhutto clan claimed that the PPP was the “only political party which was looking out for the people of Britain and had the faith of the people”. “On June 7, the people of GB will demonstrate their power and elect a jiyala Chief Minister,” he said.
Recalling the PPP’s contribution to the region, Bilawal said it was his father, President Zardari, who “gave GB its present identity when the region was earlier referred to as Northern Areas”.
Referring to the prevailing regional tensions, he said Pakistan needed a government “like the PPP that can face the world”, adding that they were only able to do so as the party was the “true representative of the Pakistani people”. He reiterated his commitment to “secure GB’s constitutional rights,” stressing that Islamabad must understand that “Pakistan can only prosper if the people of GB prosper.”
He promised that through the party’s public-private partnership initiatives, the region would not only meet its own energy needs but also supply electricity to other parts of the country.
“I am not here to air any grievances; it is not in our nature. Why Quaid-e-Awam (former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto) was hanged or why my mother (former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto) was martyred [..] have you ever heard me complain? or why was my father imprisoned for 14 years [..] we are not the type to complain; we only know how to take back our rights. So support me and I will not disappoint you,” Bilawal said while addressing the public gathering.
The PPP chairman took a swipe at his coalition partner PML-N, questioning why rival political parties campaigning in Britain seemed worried.
