If telling the truth is a crime, I will continue doing so, says Qaim

NAWABSHAH: The Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, inaugurated the project of 10-kilometer-long lining of the main Rohri Canal costing Rs4.4 billion.
Talking to the media on the occasion, the chief minister said that the lining project was launched on the instructions of former president Asif Ali Zardari in order to save wastage of irrigation water from the canal and to protect the agriculture lands from the menace of water-logging and salinity.
The chief minister said that he was not aware of a meeting between Asif Ali Zardari and Altaf Hussain. However, there was no last word in politics. He said that there was little bitterness between the MQM and the PPP, but he spoke the truth on the floor of the assembly.
He said that if telling the truth was a crime then he would continue to do so. Regarding establishment of a university in Hyderabad, the chief minister said that the government provided one of the best agriculture lands for the Altaf Hussain University, and our leader Asif Ali Zardari proposed the name of the university after Altaf Hussain.
The chief minister said that the government was a strong supporter of promotion of education. Speaking about the meeting of Pir Pagara and Makhdoom Amin Fahim, he said that it would make no difference.
The chief minister said that despite the availability of a huge stock of wheat in Sindh, the Centre imported hazardous wheat from abroad for which Sindh had demanded compensation from the Centre.
He said that Sindh had requested the Centre for exporting 500,000 tons of wheat out of a stock of 10.25 million bags of stored wheat. He said that this would facilitate the wheat growers to sell their produce to the government and also make space for the purchased wheat in government warehouses.
The chief minister said that sugar mills had been directed to buy sugarcane at the rate of Rs182, but they were paying growers only Rs170. Answering a question, he said that the lining of Rohri Canal would not only save water but additional water would become available for Thar.
To another question, the chief minister said that these government steps would provide facilities to the agriculture sector. The chief minister on the occasion announced Rs500,000 for the Nawabshah Press Club while provincial information minister Sharjeel Memon also announced an equivalent amount from his ministry to the Press Club.
Provincial Minister for Finance Murad Ali Shah, MPAs Syed Fasih Shah and Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Secretary of Irrigation Zaheed Hyder Shah, Chief Engineer of Rohri Circle Junaid Ahmed Memon and Saeed Ahmed Jagirani were also present on the occasion.