PESHAWAR, Dec 30: Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf has been empowered to take a decision about the National Finance Commission (NFC) award and not on the construction of Kalabagh Dam.

They had not given power to the president to take a unilateral decision on the Kalabagh Dam construction, he told journalists at the end of a one-day workshop organized by the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) here at a local hotel on Friday.

He said three provincial governments, excluding Punjab, were agreed on the construction of Bhasha Dam and Sindh wanted its construction first. “We have authorized Gen Pervez Musharraf to decide on the NFC award issue and not on the construction of Kalabagh Dam,” said Mr Rahim.

The people of Sindh had reservations on the planned emanation of canals from Kalabagh Dam. However, they were optimistic that the president would take all the people in confidence before the dams’ construction, he said

The Sindh government, he said, wanted that the president should implement the 1991 Water Accord and correct the telemetry system set up on canals.

The Sindh chief minister said he appreciated the broad vision of President Gen Musharraf about the construction of dams in the country to handle energy crisis in the country.

He said the president would visit the four provinces to know people’s views on the Kalabagh Dam issue. Gen Pervez Musharraf would take all the provincial governments into confidence before taking any important decision, he added.

He said there was water and power crisis in the country and the existing dams were silting up. “We favour the constructions of dams to fulfil the future energy needs,” Dr Ghulam Rahim said.

FOREIGN STUDENTS: Speaking on the occasion, NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani rejected a government plan for expelling foreign students of seminaries in Pakistan.