Daily Times

Chief Secretary Balochistan Abdul Aziz Uqaili said that keeping the province free from infectious diseases like polio was the top priority of the provincial government.

He expressed these views while talking to the media on the occasion of the inauguration of the 7-day anti-polio campaign in Quetta, said a press release issued on Monday. On this occasion, he inaugurated a seven-day anti-polio campaign across Balochistan by administering polio drops to children.

The chief secretary said that Balochistan has been polio-free for 2 years due to parents, people, and especially the front-line workers serving in the anti-polio campaign.

Despite being a victim of terrorism, the front-line workers did not back down from this national duty. The polio workers whose houses were destroyed by the flood in the past few days will be compensated very soon, he added.

He said that during the campaign more than 2.599 million children will be vaccinated, and more than 11 thousand teams would participate in the polio campaign. He said that the campaign is conducted several times a year in specific districts but this time the campaign has been planned for the whole of Balochistan. He said that despite the attacks of miscreants, the front-line workers did not retreat from the polio campaign and with the efforts of the police, FC, and other officials, the polio teams were provided with the best security.

Abdul Aziz Uqaili said that the organization which attacked the polio workers did not want Balochistan to be polio-free, and the attackers did not want to let Balochistan become polio-free saying that the security alert would provide full security to the polio workers. He said that the best measures were taken for rehabilitation in the flood-affected areas including Naseerabad where PDMA and NDMA provided tents and other necessary equipment for the rehabilitation of the victims. He said that the process of providing 21,000 sacks of wheat from the Punjab government was underway. He said that the flour shortage has been controlled to a great extent.

He said that for the last 60 to 70 years gas requirements were being met from Balochistan. He said Pakistan needed 12 billion dollars for the rehabilitation of the recent floods, while 2.3 billion dollars were needed for the rehabilitation of flood victims in Balochistan. Steps will be taken for rehabilitation in Balochistan with the amount announced in the Geneva conference, he underlined.