President Address in Mandi Bahaudin

5 Jan 2006

I am very glad that I have come to the Mandi Baha-u-din. I have cherished my memories about my four months stay in 1977 in the Mandi Baha-u-din. It’s my first visits to a district. This is first district for which I have started taking briefings and now I will go to other districts as well. First of all I would like to congratulate Mr. Riaz and also to the people of the Mandi for electing such an educated man. During briefing I have come to know that he has very good understanding of what needs to be done for the district and secondly he has also an desire to do something for the people of his district. He want to make your life better and let me tell you most feel proud to your district’s performances is excellent in the whole Pakistan regarding the water courses. As far as the money is concern Pakistan has ample amount but we need to spend this money vigilantly in the honest way, so that local people get benefits. I don’t care for the money but money should be spent in the constructive way and I care and need output. Previous govts were also spending huge money on the projects but there was no substantive out come because this money was spent with dishonesty.

We will give money to the districts and their needs will be fulfilled. Now your Nazim has asked for the district hospital and a road from Gujarat to Salam. We will make the road and the hospital as well. Let me tell you that we are bringing a revolution in the health sector, first we will provide primary health care which will be provided in the Basic Health Units (BHU) and rural health Units (RHU) then the secondary level there are Tehsil hospitals and the District hospitals. Then at the third level, We have major hospital in the cities. Unfortunately this system was there but it was not complete and in past if a poor man needed operation than he had to move to major hospitals in Lahore and for that he should have so much money so it was very inconvenient for poor. but now we are trying to give you people and a comprehensive system of medication care in the rural health center and in basic health units who will be capable of doing small operations and then in the teshil and district hospital we will provide maximum health facilities so poor man don’t have to go the cities for the medical treatment. When this system will get batter then local people will get benefit from it.

Giving authority in the hands of the local people is real democracy so they can use it for their own betterment. Previous governments are raising hollow slogans of democracy in the country. We have given this authority in the hands of the local people by local body election in 2000 which was foundation of the democracy. Mr. Riaz who has been elected as Nazim by you will keep his office for the next four years and we have provide him maximum financial, political and administrative authority to do something for his own people. I am very glad that he is doing a good job. I think this local body system is a best system to bring the changes in the life of the local people. If Nazim is honest and he wants to do something for his people them local body system has provided him the maximum opportunity. So you will elect the right man I assure you that your district will develop to a great extent.

Here I just want to say Mr. Riaz that you must also provide the similar kind of the authority and rights to the Tehsil and the union council Nazims so they that this authority could be transferred to gross root level.

Citizen community boards should be encouraged and here the role of the union council Nazim is very important because he can tell the district Nazim about the needs of the local people and on the bases of his report developmental projects could be started. Now I would like to tell you some thing about the government that by the grace of the God now Pakistan has some kind of stature in the world and the Muslim Ummah and let me tell you that when a country has some kind of standing in the world or in the Islamic society then it matters a lot for the development of that country.

Islamabad donor’s conference is a precedent of that. That 85 countries of the world have participated in this donor’s conferences and we were expecting 5.2 billion dollars and they have pledged for the almost 6.2 billion dollars. It only happen when international community considers that country responsible and whose govt is working honestly for the betterment of the people.

Mr. Kofi Anan has come from New York to Pakistan to help us and he also organized another donor’s conference in Geneva for collecting donation for the earthquake victims in Pakistan and this to be called as the country’s stature and getting benefits because of a positive standing in the world. Secondly we cannot progress until we become self sufficient and for that we have to develop our economy. A country get paralyzed without the money because for the developments in education, health sectors etc we need the resources. Previous govts were only enchanting hollow slogans because there was no money in the govt treasury as they all were confiscated. There were pledges of Gas, electricity, schools etc but there was no implementation.

Let me tell you ladies and gentlemen that now our economy is progressing to 2 such an extent that our growth rate stands second in Asia and also have a good ranking in the world. Every Pakistani was familiar with the name of the IMF because we were in habit of borrowing money from them but you should feel proud that now we have stopped borrowing money from IMF and Pakistan was the first country who got rid of IMF.

During the era of socalled political govt in the Pakistan from 1988 to 1999, annually 100 billion dollar were allocated to the public sector development but we have seen nothing substantive and now we have increased this allocation to 300 billon just because our economy has progressed and that is why I said that we have no shortages of money. Now there are dozens of the project, in progress in the country I don’t want to go in the details we just need the honest approach toward the developed Pakistan.

First I am very much concerned about the future we should have to sustain this progress. Secondly I want that this boast of economy should change the common man’s life and the whole nation should benefit from it. Now for that I have involved myself to strategize for the poverty alleviation and job creation in country. There are other projects in which I have involved myself for which provincial govt and federal govt are also First I want do provide the electricity to every village of country by 2007 and I will personally monitor its provision. Secondly I was briefed that 60% of the diseases are caused by the water we will provide safe drinking water to everybody by 2007 for this we are establishing a network of the filtration plants all over the country.

Thirdly I would like to involve myself in the education sector as well because it is really shameful for us that at one side we are a atomic power and we have sophisticated missile system, only few countries have such a sophisticated missile system but on the other hand we have pathetic literacy rate. We are among the list of the most illiterate countries of the world. I will personally look into the case and you will personally feel the differences in the performance of the schools and colleges. I am completely satisfied with the performance of the Punjab and your district.

Here I would like to mention that we need to encourage women education as well and for that we will open girls schools. I have mentioned earlier for the health sector and the building of the water courses in the country, I am monitoring both projects. Here I would again like to mention that Punjab has taken lead in this water courses projects and the district Mandi has been the best so need to carry on with this speed. Let me tell you the advantage of this project that with this brick line of the water course on the 9 km, water has reached to 600 acre of extra land and now only hour of the diesel in consumed to send this water to the land which was previously taking three hours. Imagine when all 860000 water course would be build then this benefits go to the lower level. As this is an agricultural district, you need to work hard, I have been shown instruments. One is laser leveling. Look at this land this is so beautiful. It has gone through laser leveling. In this land less water is consumed, we can save water and this is much better for the land as well. I know Chief Minister Sahib is trying to manage a cheaper system for laser levelers in every district. My request to you is that make your entire land laser leveled. This will be in your favor. Though you have to spend some money but still it will be in your favor. In this regard Punjab government and district governments should help you.

In order to save water make yourself modern. It is known as drip irrigation. Wherever you need water, only that piece of land will be irrigated drop by drop instead of making all the area wet. This is something that is happening in the world. So that your money, water would be saved and there will be betterment in the growth. So this is my request to you that you do his. All these projects as I told, I myself will supervise them. I myself will see that these projects properly work so that whole Pakistan will be benefited. I know that I am standing on a place where question of your life and death is agriculture. And agriculture depends on water. So I have no doubt that we haven’t made any reservoir in last thirty years. In the world wherever there are seas, there are hundreds of reservoirs. And we made not even a single reservoir. This is the weakness of our governments and leaders who not even dare to speak truth.

What is needed in this country for truth? Whoever don’t have the ability to speak the truth he is not eligible to be a leader so this I wanted to tell you that in this context I am not among those leaders who will become scared of the threats of strikes and shutter down type of things. Because in my point of view this country have no other choice. If we will not make water reservoirs than our country will become a desert. And these beautiful lands will become baron. I will not let this country commit suicide. So I have decided that this is not only the matter of Kalabagh, by 2016 Inshallah we will make all the dams.

We are making three dams. And when I will announce you will come to know. And I have no doubt in it that we have to take decisions 3 and I am not afraid of taking decisions.

In the end I just want to say that there is some problem which Pakistan is going to face and that is the terrorism and extremism that is not our way used to tell you ,it is not mentioned in Islam that we should go for suicide bombing and to put bomb in car and destroy the life of the fifteen people that is not what Islam preaches and the person who think that its Islamic ,he is totally wrong we all are Muslims over here with the blessing of Allah ,no one can claim that either he is good or bad Muslim only God knows that who is good and who is bad.

We all are Muslims and we must have strong faith. Another thing I want to request you is that mosque is a place where good spiritual talks based on Islam and prayers for Muslims should take place but there should not be bad prayers and preaching of extremism and terrorism. I request you to stop the people who use the loudspeakers in mosques for wrong purpose. Don’t sit silently if you hear wrong preaching’s because these are the people who are responsible for terrorism like bomb blast and you have to stop it because I cannot do this alone and you have to help police and government. Than there will be peace in our country and we will go for development. In last I would like to say that this is your government and you have to support it.

On district level you have to help Nazim Sahib and on provincial level you have to help Pervaiz Elahi. If someone is leading you the wrong path you have to be united regarding the issue of Kalabagh dam and Balochistan issue, with the blessing of Allah Pakistan is progressing and you have to keep this motto in your mind that “sab sai pehlai Pakistan” Pakistan” and do believe on me that we will move our Pakistan to heights and you will see it Inshallah I am very thankful to you.