Filing of reference over Reko Diq Project okayed

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on the advice of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has accorded his approval to a summary for filing of reference in the Supreme Court of Pakistan under Article 186 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 in Reko Diq Project.

Earlier the Apex Committee, headed by minister for finance and Tethyan Copper Company Pakistan (Private) Limited shareholders had agreed to a framework for settlement and revival of the Reko Diq Project in March 2022. The federal cabinet in a meeting held on 30th September had approved filing of a reference in the Supreme Court under Article 186 of the Constitution with respect to the following questions of law of public importance:-

“i. Whether the earlier judgment of the Supreme Court reported as Maulvi Abdul Haque Baloch v. Federation of Pakistan PLD 2013 SC 641, the Constitution of Pakistan, laws or public policy prevent the Government of Pakistan and the Government of Balochistan from entering into the Reko Diq Agreements or affect their validity?

ii. If enacted, would the proposed Foreign Investment (Protection and Promotion) Bill, 2022 be valid and constitutional?”

President for developing self-sustaining model for crop insurance: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday urged the insurance companies and other stakeholders to develop a self-sustaining model for insurance of the crops.

He said that the farmers could be educated regarding crop insurance through media. The President expressed these views while chairing a meeting of stakeholders on the insurance of crops, here at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

The meeting was attended by Senator Sania Nishtar, Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi, Punjab Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Khawar Jameel, Federal Insurance Ombudsman, representatives from State Bank of Pakistan, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), insurance companies and others, a press release issued by the President’s Media Wing here said.

The President said that a fully thought-out, practical and friendly comprehensive strategy for farmers should be devised with a timeline after consultation with all stakeholders from the private and government sectors for providing crop insurance facilities to farmers without complicated procedures.

He said that shielding the farmer from crop failure and crop loss due to manmade and natural disasters was very important for ensuring food security for Pakistan as agriculture constituted the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy and a large number of the country’s population was directly or indirectly dependent on this sector.

The President said that Pakistan was among the top ten countries most vulnerable to global warming-induced natural calamities and due to this phenomenon, the farmers had to face cyclic and frequent floods, a prolonged period of drought, unpredictable weather systems and pest attacks which resulted in frequent crop losses in various parts of the country.

He emphasized the need for setting in place a sophisticated satellite imagery-based weather forecasting system capable of providing valuable and authentic data on weather patterns and accurate weather forecasting especially floods which would provide valuable information to forewarn the farmers to take remedial measures for preventing crop destruction due to natural calamities. It was decided in the meeting that a technical working group of various stakeholders would be formed for proposing workable solutions with regard to crop insurance.