Saleem Shahid
QUETTA: The widespread destruction caused by the October 8 earthquake in different parts of the NWFP and Azad Kashmir followed large-scale rehabilitation efforts in the affected areas.
The sad and tragic aspect of the quake aside, the country is poised for new boom as the reconstruction programme takes off in the coming spring. However, the rehabilitation programme will not benefit Balochistan as no major industry relating to construction and building exists there and the province is not in a position to provide skilled manpower required in the quake-hit areas. Balochistan has traditionally depended on Punjab as far as skilled labour is concerned.
According to an estimate, over 8,000 skilled men are working in the country, mainly from Punjab and the NWFP.
The only sector in Balochistan which may be benefited in the post-quake reconstruction is coal mining. The province is a major supplier of coal to Punjab and the NWFP for making bricks.
After the government announced the reconstruction plan in the affected areas, the price of coal shot up in Balochistan as its demand in Punjab and the NWFP increased.
Ishrat Aziz, a leading businessman involved in construction and coal mining, said coal prices increased by around 60 per cent in last two months. He said that before the earthquake, the rate of coal per ton was Rs3,800 which had now reached Rs5,500 per ton.
He was of the view that with the increase in demand of bricks for the reconstruction work, demand of coal from Balochistan would also increase which would benefit people involved in the coal mining business. "It is the only sector that can benefit the people of the province," said Mr Aziz said.
Balochistan has no cement or steel industry that can play a role in the reconstruction work in the affected areas.
Mr Aziz pointed out that Balochistan was facing shortage of labourers after the earthquake because several thousand people belonging to the Hazara division and Azad Kashmir left Quetta and other areas of the province where they had been working in hotels, bakeries and as night watchmen. "Now people are not available to work on these jobs," he said and added that people went back to their areas not only got jobs but also to get compensation from the government for reconstruction of their destroyed houses.
Former Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice-president Sardar Mohammad Ali Jogezai also sees no benefit for Balochistan in the reconstruction of earthquake-hit areas.
"When we have nothing to share in the rebuilding of the areas then how one can we expect any benefit from this work," he remarked. He said there was no industry which produced construction material or could provide skilled labour for the reconstruction work.
There is only one hope that some people involved in construction got contracts of constructing buildings and roads but it will not be easy for Balochistan people to compete with big construction companies to obtain such contracts.
Very few contractors from Balochistan so far have succeeded in obtaining some work in the affected areas where the government is constructing temporary houses to save the victims from severe cold.
Punjab, Sindh and the NWFP will be the main beneficiaries when the massive reconstruction work will start in the quake-hit areas.
Balochistan Economic Forum president Sardar Shaukat Aziz Popalzai agreed that Balochistan would get nothing from the reconstruction work in the affected areas but said that it was the time that unemployment in the province could be reduced.
The Engineering University of Khuzdar and the Bolan Medical College produce thousands of graduates every year but only a few hundreds of them can be adjusted in different government departments as the provincial government is the only institution that can provide jobs in Balochistan.
According to an estimate, two to three thousand engineers and doctors are jobless in Balochistan who have been holding protest demonstrations and observing hunger strikes in Quetta and other parts of the province, seeking jobs.
The Balochistan government can adjust these jobless doctors and engineers in the quake-affected areas through the national volunteers’ scheme.
Mr Popalzai said Balochistan would face more financial problems if funds promised by different countries and financial institutions in the donors’ conference held in Islamabad last month were not provided to the federal government.
The Centre has already asked Balochistan to reduce its non-development expenditures and in case of not receiving funds from donors, it may put more financial burden on the province. Balochistan will be the worst sufferer as it is already depending on the Centre for its financial requirements.
Mr Popalzai said Balochistan should take the opportunity and encourage the private sector. It should invite foreign investors in different sectors, including mineral, fisheries, agriculture and mining industries.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/12/18/ebr20.htm
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