Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz hopes that the Council of Common Interest (CCI) will build trust between the federal government and provinces on the construction of new water reservoirs.

“The CCI is a constitutional requirement which should always be in operation,” Aziz told journalists in Islamabad. “The country needs to worry about its future because the way trends are going we will be short of water.”

He said the new CCI would be reconstituted. The body would have eight members including the chief ministers of the four provinces and four federal government representatives including the prime minister, who would chair the council.

Aziz said the purpose of the CCI was to discuss with the provinces matters affecting both the federation and the provinces. The council would help create a sense of participation by all provinces and an atmosphere of trust.

Replying to a question about the CCI’s role in building new water reservoirs, he said the council could contribute towards resolving the issue. “But that is not the only reason it is being recreated.”

He said the CCI was a constitutional requirement. The council would provide a platform for covering issues which pertain to inter-provincial harmony and coordination, he added.

The prime minister said that Pakistan being an agriculture-based economy, the country’s population needs water. “If we do not have adequate water than we are going to face grave consequences. So there is need to build water reservoirs which will then feed the agriculture sector in addition to industry and domestic use.”

He observed that Pakistan stored only nine percent of the water available compared to other countries that stored up to 30 to 40 percent of their water.

He said the government was trying to address concerns about the construction of big dams. “What we are trying to do is to address these concerns. Find technical solutions. Lay the facts on the table. I think this can be solved through a dialogue with all stakeholders by sharing the facts with everybody and ensuring whatever decisions are taken are in the national interest.”