QUETTA: Suspected tribal militants blew up a gas pipeline in the Dera Murad Jamali on Sunday, shutting supplies to a US and British-owned power plant for the second time this month, a government official said.
A blast damaged a 24-inch diameter pipeline, cutting off gas supply to the nearby Uch private power plant. "It is an act of sabotage," Abdul Samad Lasi, a senior local administration official, said.
Militants carried out a similar attack in the same region earlier this month, shutting down the plant.
Lasi said that the 586-megawatt Uch power plant would remain closed until the pipeline, which is not owned by the power plant, was repaired, but could not say how long this would take. Officials of the Uch power plant were not immediately available for comments.
Musharraf vows to emerge victorious in dams, Balochistan issues KARACHI: President Pervez Musharraf said on Sunday that instead of pushing Balochistan and the construction of dams under the carpet, he would resolve the issues courageously and be victorious.
Speaking at the inauguration of a 620-foot-high port fountain (water jet) built by Karachi Port Trust near Clifton beach, he said the government could have ignored the issues and brushed them under the carpet like other governments did in the past, but that would not have resolved the problems.
"We want to address all causes that have been brushed under carpet in the past because I don’t believe in brushing issues under the carpet," he added.
"We have to face them. We have to catch the bull by the horn. We will resolve them. If we have resolve, if we have the courage and if we have the brains we will be able to do it. But if we keep doing what we have been doing in the past we will not be able to resolve any issues," Musharraf said.
Referring to Balochistan, he said the government would resolve the issue and bring peace in the province. "If we have a problem in Balochistan, we can push it under the carpet. I can very well do it and feel comfortable. But no, we will not do it like this. We will bring peace in Balochistan," he added.
Referring to the water issue, the president said people would die if the government did not go for dams. He said the country would go dry by 2015 to 2020 and the people would see the impact in their lifetime of how a nation starts going down.
He said people saw it as a technical issue, but it was an economic issue. "One dam means about 1.5 to 2 percent of the GDP because of facilitation of agriculture and electricity. So we have to face these issues boldly and execute it because it is in the interest of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan, especially the poor who had been misled," the president added.
Earlier, speaking to people in Swabi on Saturday, Musharraf warned tribesmen not to harbour militants, saying it would only increase violence within Pakistan’s borders. |
