HYDERABAD, March 2: Sindh Education Minister Dr Hameeda Khuhro has stressed the need for efforts to intensify oil and gas exploration and identify alternative sources of energy.

She was speaking as chief guest at the closing session of a two-day national conference on "fossil fuels and mineral resources" on Tuesday. The geology department of the University of Sindh had organized the conference.

Dr Khuhro said energy had gained predominance in the present day world, especially for underdeveloped countries like Pakistan whose import bill of petrol was mounting with each passing day.

Referring to huge coal deposits of Thar, she said exploitation of these deposits would go a long way in meeting energy requirements of the country, subsequently adding to its economic growth.

She also referred to other precious mineral and rock deposits and said the government was encouraging entrepreneurs to set up mineral industries. She said investment policies initiated by the government would provide more job opportunities to people and alleviate poverty to a great extent.

The minister praised the university for organizing the conference on such an important subject. Vice Chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui thanked the scholars for attending the conference.

Dr Mehmood Raza, research adviser to the Higher Education Commission, Mirza Talib Hassan, Dr Qasim Jan, Nusrat Kamal Siddiqui, Masood Abdali, Prof Umer Farooq, Dr Parveen Usmani, Prof Asif Ali Qazi and others presented their papers on the subject.

The secretary of the organizing committee of the conference, Dr Parveen Usmani, presented recommendations of the conference prepared by the geoscientists. The conference urged the private sector to support public sector educational institutions from primary to university level to improve the standard of education and quality of research. It also called upon the government to extend support to geology scientists and researchers.

The conference said public and private sectors should fund exploration study projects on precious metals, stones, oil and gas because there was a great potential to find new deposits of the precious commodities in the country. It stressed the need for exploration of offshore areas for oil, gas and other minerals.

The conference was of the opinion that Pakistan had great export potential in coloured gemstones and recommended that research should be conducted in the solid mineral sector in which Sindh as well as the other provinces were very rich. It recommended establishment of a separate ministry for development of solid minerals.

It called for revising mining and fiscal laws and developing infrastructure in mineral-rich districts of the country. The conference proposed that the geology subject should be introduced at the college level.