Friday stronky demonstrations against the ongoing gas and electricity shortages during Ramazan demanded the summoning of officials from the Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesco) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) for an explanation.
Presiding over the session, Deputy Speaker Ghazala Gola noticed the state of affairs seriously and called the chief executives of both utilities to show before the legislature.
PPP lawmaker Haji Ali Madad Jattak asked a point of order shortly after the session started, saying that Qesco and SSGC had before guaranteed continuous gas and electricity during Ramazan.
But in Sariab, he claimed, consumers nevertheless paid expensive fees while both basic services stayed absent during Sehri and Iftar. He insisted on quick summoning of officials from both agencies.
Deputy speaker of Balochistan invites Qesco, SSGC leaders
Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee for Balochistan Asghar Ali Tareen voiced worries about the state of Pishin, where 1.2 million people were deprived of access to drinking water by only receiving two-phase electricity for few hours a day.
Farah Azeem Shah, a member of the Balochistan Awami Party, underlined the effects of both planned and unplanned gas load-shedding and mentioned that gas leaks were causing lethal explosions. Deputy Speaker Gola reacted by ruling calling SSGC and Qesco officials to handle the problem.
Separately, Mir Zabid Ali Reki, a member of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, expressed worries over the extended closing of the border crossing at Mashkel, a Pakistan-Iran border town in Washuk district.
He claimed that despite negotiations to restore the bridge, the local community had set up a sit-in demonstration in Quetta, hence the crossing stayed blocked for more than three months. He exhorted the government to act right now.
Under discussions with Mr Reki, Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani reassured the house that Mashkel and Khaœran citizens’ issues will be taken care of.
For the past two years, Jamaat-i-Islami objectated to the non-distribution of Zakat money.
He hailed the chief minister’s decision to disband the Zakat Department and demanded that pending money be immediately distributed to the underprivileged before Eid.
PDMC decision attacked
The decision by the Pakistan Medical Dental Council (PMDC) to reduce medical seats allocated for Balochistan’s former Fata districts and students also infuriated the treasury and opposition me-mers.
Adopted by the house, JUI-F member Dr Nawaz Kakar moved a motion denouncing the PMDC’s action.
According to the ruling to reduce seats from 333 to 194, “unjust and attempt to deprive the youth of education opportunities”.
Former chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch attacked the federal government for selectively enforcing the 18th Amendment and depriving provinces of their due rights. He stated the Council of Common Interests should talk about the medical seat problem.
Engineer Zamrak Khan Achakzai of the Awami National Party demanded a province-wide Higher Education Commission be established.
According to Minister of Education Raheela Hameed Durrani, initiatives aimed at resolving university financial problems were in progress.
Initiated in 2018, the federal government’s scholarship program has seen a declining number of medical seats, according to Provincial Minister Bakht Muhammad Kakar; later decisions were reversed.
Inspired by Jamaat-i-Islami MPA Maulana Hedayatur Rehman Baloch for government support of the fishing industry, the house also decided upon another motion.
Mass trawl fishing, he said, has seriously disrupted nearby fishermen trying to make ends meet.
