MULTAN,April 29th:Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said ,"we have allowed the provinces to execute power generation projects in their respective provinces. This approval was given by the Council of common Interest on the request of Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif .Prime Minister stressed on Friday the need for expanding tax net to enhance revenue collection in the country. The prime minister said this while addressing a gathering of industrialists at Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) chaired by Shahid Naseem Khokhar,its president . He said that increase in revenue collection was the need of the hour.
He said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was not a part of any attempt to destabilize democratic government in the past nor will it ever do it now . Rather, it was the PPP that put an end to the outdated tradition of destabilising the governments.Gilani said the government was committed to pursuing the policy of reconciliation and tolerance and added that PPP had formed coalition governments in Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and at the centre. He said, however, the coalition in Punjab and the centre did not last for some reasons.
“But we did not let it reach serious proportion and I want to make it clear that no attempt would be made to weaken the Punjab government.
He said that the party consulted all political forces in Sindh and Karachi in the spirit of reconciliation including MQM, PML-F, ANP and others and addressed the issues relating to law and order .
Gilani said that we are moving towards a new alliance and consulting all the parties to resolve the problems facing the nation.He said that the PPP-led government would take all steps for development of the country.
The Prime Minister said he believed that Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was innocent. The reference of Bhutto case had been sent to the Supreme Court to correct the record.
He said that the dictators had made amendments in the constitution to strengthen their one-man rule but the PPP- led government introduced constitutional amendments to ensure supremacy of the parliament and give rights to the people.
He said that all the institutions were working within their respective constitutional domains and the situation would further improve with the passage of time.
He attributed lack of investment to law and order situation, terrorism. He, however, added that the nation was committed to eliminating terrorism and for this reason it had extended full support to the law enforcement agencies.
He said that countless Pakistanis working abroad send remittances worth dollar 11 billion to the country annually.
He said that terrorism, floods and shortage of electricity had given rise to economic problems and any short term planning to set things right would take at least three to four years.
He said that government has started taking steps to overcome electricity shortage and added that 2000 megawatt of power has been added to the national grid while another 2000 megawatt would be provided shortly.
Gilani said that electricity shortfall was not a new phenomenon and added that India was also facing this problem besides Nepal and others. However, these countries were dealing with the issue through load management, he added.
He said that an energy conference would be convened soon to evolve a load management plan.
He said that the matter relating to Thar coal reserves was 64 years old but the present government soon after taking over did not take much time in resolving it . The government empowered the provincial government to deal with the matter and negotiations were being held with different firms to generate power through coal.
He said that Kalabagh dam project was made controversial by the former Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fazl-e-Haq . However, the present government convened a meeting of chief ministers and decided to build Bhasha dam project, he added.
He said that government was making efforts to get more facilities and better access to EU markets for Pakistani products.
He said funds and land would be provided for establishment of business development centre in Multan.
MCCI president Shahid Nasim Khokhar said that land be allocated for establishment of stalls of women entrepreneurs, handicrafts and blue pottery.
He demanded that tax net be expanded instead of imposing RGST and withdrawal of tax waiver to all sectors. He also demanded reduction in mark up rates and building new dams to resolve electricity and water shortage problems.
“But we did not let it reach serious proportion and I want to make it clear that no attempt would be made to weaken the Punjab government.
He said that the party consulted all political forces in Sindh and Karachi in the spirit of reconciliation including MQM, PML-F, ANP and others and addressed the issues relating to law and order .
Gilani said that we are moving towards a new alliance and consulting all the parties to resolve the problems facing the nation.He said that the PPP-led government would take all steps for development of the country.
The Prime Minister said he believed that Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was innocent. The reference of Bhutto case had been sent to the Supreme Court to correct the record.
He said that the dictators had made amendments in the constitution to strengthen their one-man rule but the PPP- led government introduced constitutional amendments to ensure supremacy of the parliament and give rights to the people.
He said that all the institutions were working within their respective constitutional domains and the situation would further improve with the passage of time.
He attributed lack of investment to law and order situation, terrorism. He, however, added that the nation was committed to eliminating terrorism and for this reason it had extended full support to the law enforcement agencies.
He said that countless Pakistanis working abroad send remittances worth dollar 11 billion to the country annually.
He said that terrorism, floods and shortage of electricity had given rise to economic problems and any short term planning to set things right would take at least three to four years.
He said that government has started taking steps to overcome electricity shortage and added that 2000 megawatt of power has been added to the national grid while another 2000 megawatt would be provided shortly.
Gilani said that electricity shortfall was not a new phenomenon and added that India was also facing this problem besides Nepal and others. However, these countries were dealing with the issue through load management, he added.
He said that an energy conference would be convened soon to evolve a load management plan.
He said that the matter relating to Thar coal reserves was 64 years old but the present government soon after taking over did not take much time in resolving it . The government empowered the provincial government to deal with the matter and negotiations were being held with different firms to generate power through coal.
He said that Kalabagh dam project was made controversial by the former Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fazl-e-Haq . However, the present government convened a meeting of chief ministers and decided to build Bhasha dam project, he added.
He said that government was making efforts to get more facilities and better access to EU markets for Pakistani products.
He said funds and land would be provided for establishment of business development centre in Multan.
MCCI president Shahid Nasim Khokhar said that land be allocated for establishment of stalls of women entrepreneurs, handicrafts and blue pottery.
He demanded that tax net be expanded instead of imposing RGST and withdrawal of tax waiver to all sectors. He also demanded reduction in mark up rates and building new dams to resolve electricity and water shortage problems.
