950826

'Privatization of

irrigation system

will ruin economy'

RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Privatization of irrigation system of Pakistan will ruin the agriculture sector and break the back bone of the country's economy.

This was stated by president of Federation of Engineering Associations of Pakistan, Engineer M. S. Khan and Secretary General, Pir Jameel Shah at a joint press conference here on Saturday.

They said the World Bank has been forcing this issue on the government for the last three years. Engineers of Pakistan have been opposing this proposal.

The privatization of irrigation water will unilaterally take away the water rights of the land owners attached with the agricultural lands for last over 100 years in the provinces of the Punjab and Sindh, they added.

S. M. Khan said that the cultivation of lands particularly in Punjab and Sindh had taken place on basis of the irrigation canals constructed a 100 years ago and the water of these canals was allocated legally to the lands irrigated by them.

"Chakooks" were inhabitated with water rights together with proprietary rights of these lands, he said.

The whole agricultural economic and rural social structure has been raised on this basis in the province which constitute about 70% of the total economy. Taking away the water rights from land proprietary rights will destroy the foundation of the agricultural sector, he added.

Further the engineering profession in the country has been built over the last 100 years around the irrigation system of Pakistan and engineers in all the four provinces enjoy appropriate status and security of employment. By privatizating irrigation system the professional engineering strength of the country would also be thrown into disarray, they said.

In order to hoodwink the extensive opposition of privatization of the irrigation system, like of the World Bank in the bureaucracy are misguiding the government with the proposal of creating irrigation authorities eventually to sell out the irrigation system piecemeal. They said that the same pattern was adopted for privatization of Telephone and Telegraph Department and first PTC was created and then its shares offered for sale to foreign private agencies.

The president of the federation further said that similarly Wapda has been forced to sell out the Guddu Power Project.

The secretary said that the sell out of the fixed capital assets of the state like telecom system, irrigation system and power houses is worst than allowing the trading rights to foreign agencies like the East India Company which had eventually captured political power and it had taken over 150 years to regain freedom from them, he added.

He said that privatization of the capital assets would throw the country into permanent economic slavery of the foreign companies and World Bank.

The Federation of Engineering Associations of Pakistan appeals to the government to give up the idea of privatization of the capital resources of the country and reject the World Bank schemes in this regard, he added.