SUKKUR, July 28: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that the government will allocate maximum funds to overhaul irrigation system in the province.

He was speaking at a press conference at the circuit house here on Tuesday night before leaving for Karachi after his hectic tour of Sukkur, Ghotki and Shikarpur districts.

He deplored that in this modern age, the irrigation system was being run in a conservative way in order to hide corruption and misdeeds of scrupulous officials of the department. The practice had endangered the existence of the Sukuur Barrage which could have ultimately brought a catastrophe for Sindh, he added.

The chief minister said that the agriculture-based economy of Sindh depended on the Sukkur Barrage and declared that those officials, who had neglected the damage caused to it, would not be spared.

He referred to negligence of the officials concerned after the discovery of a hole in the Sukkur Barrage structure in 2002 which, he said, could have proved disastrous for its pillars, gates and thus could have resulted in the destruction of the barrage.

He said that Rs14 billion had been allocated by the federal government for overhauling the Sindh irrigation system, including the lining and strengthening of the watercourses.

Moreover, the Rangers had been deployed to control water theft, he said and claimed that it had led to saving of a lot of water which was being supplied to land located at tail-ends of canals and water channels.

He said that law and order was being given top priority because without it, they could not achieve the goal of investment and industrialization in Sindh. He said that maximum funds would be provided to the Sindh police to help it to restore peace in the province and trust among the people.

Referring to his taking of an aerial view of the Shah Belo forest, he claimed that he was the first CM of the Sindh in 57 years who had visited the dense forest which served as a safe heaven for outlaws.

He said that he had found morale of policemen in Shah Belo high and had announced Rs1 million cash reward for them. He claimed that no civilian had sustained any loss of life of property in the operation and they had appealed to him for establishing police stations, schools and hospitals in the kutcha area.

Dr Rahim said that he had told the police officers to restore the writ of law, otherwise they would be held responsible, and hoped that the measures taken by his government for improving law and order situation would yield positive impact.

Referring to the kidnapping of a rice trader of Larkana, Santosh Kumar, he said that two DPOs and four SHOs of Larkana and Naushahro Feroze had been suspended for failing to recover Mr Kumar. He added that the new DPO of Larkana had been given a deadline of 14 days by him for the recovery of Mr Kumar.

He said that he help of army would also be sought for eliminating outlaws from the interior of Sindh. The chief minister said that he had asked the IG of Sindh to speed up work for establishment of a border police force which would work on the borders of Sindh with Punjab and Balochistan in Sukkur, Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Ghotki districts.

Sixty per cent of the force would be recruited from Jacobabad and rest from Sukkur, Shikarpur and other districts, he added. He said he had asked Sindh Education Minister Dr Hameeda Khuhro to brief him about the jobs that had recently been advertised and for which interviews had been conducted by the education department.

Dr Rahim said that the government alone could not provide jobs to educated youth, and advised them to look for jobs in private sector. Answering a question, he said that market committees had been warned not to collect tax on inter-district routes and he had also directed police to arrest those who were found violating the policy.

Sindh Irrigation and Power Minister Nadir Akmal Leghari, IG Syed Kamal Shah and Additional IG, Sukkur region, Rahoo Khan Brohi, were present at the press conference. Later, the chief minister visited the Civil Hospital where he found that some of medicines lacked official stamp and at some places there was no arrangement for water. He also found some parts of the hospital building in a poor shape and ordered sacking of the EDO, health, Dr Ashfaq Piracha.