QUETTA: Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has dismissed a notion that the army has an eye on Balochistan’s resources, assuring people of the province that it only wants to exploit these resources for their benefit.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of Musakhail Mineral Development Project in Musakhail area, the most backward district of Balochistan which borders Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, here on Friday, he said the army wanted to develop natural resources for improving the lives of ordinary people.

“These natural resources should be used for the benefit of the people of Balochistan,” Gen Kayani said, adding the army had no other motive for developing these resources.

Gen Kayani later inaugurated a school building in Musakhail, the coal- and marble-rich district of Balochistan.

He said peace and development linked with each other because without peace development activities and prosperity could not be ensured in the area.

Commander of Southern Command Lt Gen Javed Zia, Inspector General of Frontier Corps Maj-Gen Obaidullah Khan Khattak, former governor Sardar Gul Mohammad Khan Jogezai and provincial minister for labour Sarwar Nadeem Musakhail also spoke on the occasion.

Senior Minister Maulana Abdul Wasey, tribal elders and a large number of people attended the ceremony.

Experts estimate that two to five million of tons of coal deposits exist in the area – enough for 15 years – while marble deposits have yet to be exploited.

Besides the government royalty, a tax of Rs400 per ton will be levied for providing security to the field area and the entire route up to Punjab border. Some 20 trucks, each carrying 30 tons of coal, will be sent to Punjab.

Gen Kayani said the army had launched mineral projects on the demand of the local people because tribal and local disputes were hampering natural resources’ utilisation.

He said the Musakhail mineral development project was part of the army’s efforts to bring prosperity in the area.

He said Balochistan was a mineral-rich province and its people should think of extending cooperation to the government and the army which were making efforts for their welfare.

He said that people of tribes of the area, after burying their hatchets, had entered into agreements over the mineral exploration and its exploitation for their own benefits.

“The mineral development project was in fact a gift from the Pakistan Army to the people of Musakhail on the eve of the Independence Day,” Gen Kayani said, adding that local people would get maximum benefits of these projects in terms of education, health care and basic infrastructure.

In response to a welcome address by a minister demanding establishment of a military college in Musakhail, the Army Chief promised a high school of very good standard in Musakhail town.

He said that 6,000 people from Balochistan had been recruited in the army and more would be recruited.