PPP will redress grievances of peoples of Gilgit Baltistan: Bilawal

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that PPP has public welfare agenda and if the people of the Gilgit Baltistan voted in favour of PPP they will bring progress in the GB region.

Addressing an election campaign in Ghizer district, Bilawal Bhutto said that PPP will improve radical improvement in road and other infrastructure development.

Bilawal announced that PPP will explore power production in the GB, adding that it was ZA Bhutto who had started survey of power production.

Bilawal said that Punjab government which benefitted a lot from 18th Amendments in the form of fund had surprisingly agreed to compromise on the provincial autonomy.

He urged the people to vote and support PPP candidates on June 7 so that a jiyala CM is elected in GB. He hoped that there will be rain of arrows on election day in the GB.

Bilawal claimed that Sindh government has brought radical improvement in health sector and if elected into in GB, it will bring reforms in health sector.

PPP chairman highlighted the achievements of those who came before him, including Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s subsidies that continued to benefit the region, and Benazir Bhutto’s granting Ghizer district status. President Asif Ali Zardari, he added, had given the region its assembly, identity, governor and chief minister.

Bilawal said it was the new generation’s responsibility to secure more rights for GB, adding that he wanted a mandate from the region so that he could ensure Islamabad listened to the wishes of the GB people before creating any other provinces.

Bilawal particularly stressed the need for a PPP majority, including all three Ghizer seats, in order to pursue the right of sovereignty promised to the people. He noted that 28,000 square kilometres of land in GB had previously belonged to the state, saying that it was due to the people of GB.

He also highlighted the right of ownership as a key reason to vote for the PPP, stating that the party wanted to grant ownership of arable land to the people of the region.

He also highlighted the Sindh People’s Housing for Flood-Affectees (SPHF) programme, in which two million houses were being built for flood-affected people with ownership of the houses and land being given to the people themselves.

Bilawal declared his intention to establish a similar housing scheme in GB, starting from Ghizer, to support those affected by natural disasters and flooding in the region. Alongside the right to sovereignty and ownership, the PPP chairman also reaffirmed his commitment to the party’s third promise — the right to employment.