QUETTA, Oct 3: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said here yesterday that the first phase of the Gwadar port project would be completed in three months and the port will be formally inaugurated in January next year by the Chinese prime minister and President Pervez Musharraf.

The coastal highway linking the port with other parts of the country has already been completed while another road to connect it with northern parts via Rato Dero was under construction.

The prime minister, who has addressing a press conference here before leaving for Islamabad at the end of his two-day visit, also said that the coastal highway would be extended up to the Jiwani harbour.

Provincial Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani, Chief Minister Jam Yousuf, federal ministers Zobaida Jalal and Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind and Deputy Speaker of the Balochistan Assembly Aslam Bhootani were present on the occasion.

About the overall Balochistan issue, the prime minister said a parliamentary committee set up to resolve the Balochistan issue with mutual consultation would hold its first meeting next week.

The prime minister said: "We want to resolve all issues relating to Balochistan through mutual understanding." The committee, he added, would discuss the issues in detail and would try to find a solution.

The prime minister said that during his stay in Quetta, he had held a meeting with leaders of opposition parties and exchanged views with them on the Gwadar port and other mega-projects.

The prime minister said that more members of the Senate and National Assembly wanted to be included in the committee on Balochistan to play their role in solving the problem.

Referring to the NFC award, Mr Aziz said the National Finance Commission would resume work next month to work out an acceptable formula for resource distribution. He said he was optimistic about a settlement of the NFC award issue, so that resources were distributed in a suitable way acceptable to all the parties.

Replying to a question, he said that provincial Finance Minister Syed Ehsan Shah had presented Balochistan's case well in all NFC meetings. "Balochistan should be proud of him", he said, and added that the province's demand about giving weight to factors other than population would be considered in the next NFC meeting.

Answering a question about the financial problems of the province, the prime minister said he had already announced and grant of Rs3 billion for development programmes and for rehabilitation of the drought-hit areas.

He said he had asked the provincial government to prepare its own programme for financial assistance and suggest medium- and long-term solutions. These suggestions would form the basis for providing assistance to Balochistan for resolving the problem on a permanent basis.

The prime minister said that during his stay in Quetta, he had also held meetings with business community and representatives of other segments of the society and asked them to make Quetta the hub of trade and economic activities for enhancing trade with Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asian states.

He said that the governor of Balochistan had recently visited Kandahar and discussed various issues with Afghan authorities. As a result of the talks, a bus service between Quetta and Kandahar would be started in two months.

Besides, he said Pakistan would start laying railway lines from Chaman to Spin Boldak for which a survey had already been completed. On a request from the chief minister, the prime minister announced that the federal government would provide Rs30 million for Quetta. He asked the provincial government to prepare projects for Quetta's development and submit it to the federal government.

APP adds: The prime minister reviewed the progress of work at Gwadar port project and directed the Port Authority to make it operational by January 2005. The Director-General of the Gwadar Development Authority and Gwadar Port Authority briefed the prime minister on the progress of work and explained the supporting facilities being provided at the port.