Balochistan’s development remains federal govt’s top priority: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the development, prosperity and welfare of the people of Balochistan remained the federal government’s foremost priority, according to a statement issued after his meeting with a delegation of senior politicians and senators from the province at the Prime Minister’s Office.

During the meeting, the prime minister said Balochistan was endowed with natural resources and stressed that the government was making every effort to ensure that the people of the province received the full benefit of those resources. He said the federal government, working together with the provincial administration, was pursuing measures aimed at the province’s progress and uplift and at improving the living standards of its residents.

The delegation comprised Senator Mir Dostain Khan Domki, Balochistan Minister for Public Health Engineering Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran, Balochistan Assembly member Sardar Changez Marri, and Mir Khuda Bakhsh Marri.

According to the statement, the participants also discussed the province’s overall development and issues related to the welfare of the people of Balochistan.

Solid waste management and energy generation

In a separate development, Prime Minister Shehbaz chaired a meeting on solid waste management and directed the relevant authorities to introduce a modern and sustainable solid waste management system across the country in coordination with provincial governments, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

At the meeting, he decided that a comprehensive roadmap would be prepared for generating electricity from solid waste as part of the government’s wider policy to promote renewable and environmentally friendly energy sources.

The prime minister also ordered the formation of a task force to draw up a detailed action plan for converting solid waste into energy. He said the task force would frame recommendations in line with modern technology and international best practices.

He further instructed officials to include private sector representatives and internationally recognised experts in the proposed task force so that the initiative could be made more effective and result-oriented.

According to the statement, the prime minister said producing energy from solid waste would help lower reliance on imported fuel and conserve foreign exchange reserves.

Message on International Nurses Day

In his message on International Nurses Day, the prime minister said the government was committed to improving the doctor-to-nurse ratio in the country in order to strengthen the healthcare sector and ensure effective delivery of medical services to the public.

He said the strength of the health sector largely depended on a balanced presence of doctors and nurses.