LONG-AWAITED report submitted by a committee of experts on water resources is finally out. The nine-member body headed by Mr. A.G.N. Abbasi has supported construction of Kalabagh Dam and Bhasha Dam projects to meet growing water shortages. Excerpts from the report have been sent to Members of the Parliament. It is learnt that the committee chairman in his separate note has observed that the Bhasha Dam project has an edge over the Kalabagh Dam project. However, the committee was of the unanimous view that the present irrigation water shortage of 9 million acre feet will grow to 25 million acre feet by the year in the next 14 years. The MPs have been informed that work on Kalabagh Dam project could start in 2006 and finish by 2012 whereas work on the other dam project at Bhasha could not be taken up before 2009. It is to be noted that no one out of nine members of the expert committee on water resources opposed KBD. All members have held that both Kalabagh and Bhasha Dam projects are technically feasible.
The vested interests opposing construction of Kalabagh Dam perhaps fail to realize that any further delay to go ahead with construction of mega water reservoirs would reservoirs would spell disaster for the nation. The argument that the resolutions against Kalabagh Dam project, passed earlier by the three Provincial Assemblies, could not be ignored has no solid basis. These in fact have no constitutional value as the subject of water and power is included in the Federal List as per Article 142-A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The Provincial Assemblies’ resolutions are recommendatory in nature and when adopted the full facts and technicalities involved were not in the knowledge of MPAs. As the national debate on the subject continues, by now the masses in the NWFP and Sindh are beginning to realize that mega dams are a must for Pakistan and that their construction would hugely benefit them. President Musharraf has observed that he would not allow Sindh to commit suicide by obstructing construction of the mega water reservoirs.
As the time for taking a final decision has arrived, one expects that an overwhelming majority of MPs including those belonging to the Opposition would support Kalabagh and Bhasha Dams. In due course, the Government would have to take up construction of the third dam on Indus near Skardu. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at a ceremony to construct Chashma-2 nuclear power project stated on Wednesday that three big dams will have to be built in the next around 15 years. The Government will now be well advised to seek approval of the Parliament immediately on the big dams. We have already lost at last 15 precious years. Further delay will further complicate our problems.

War against Al-Qaeda

THE considerable satisfaction that everyone in the Kingdom must feel at the slaying of another of the most wanted terrorists must be tempered by the knowledge that five members of the security forces gave their lives during the operation. Their senseless murder while they did their duty protecting the public underlines the great evil with which society as a whole is still confronted. Therefore as we congratulate the forces of law and order for notching up another triumph, our hearts must go out to the families and the colleagues of five dead policemen.
Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al-Suwailmi was No. 7 on the list of the 36 most wanted terrorists. His capture near Buraida, capital of Qassim province, was undoubtedly another considerable blow to Al-Qaeda’s terror network in Saudi Arabia and his subsequent death from his wounds may have been a relief to his fellow terrorists. The war against Al-Qaeda is being won by intelligence, much of it gained from captured terrorists. The knowledge that the authorities take a generous view of terrrorists who recant has undermined the determination of some of the most hardened terrorists. The suspect who escaped when Suwailmi was being captured may yet lead the latest police dragnet to other members of his terror cell, as once more Al-Qaeda’s adherents in the Kingdom find themselves on the run.
No one, however, should be under the slightest illusion that the serpent of terror is close to being slain in the Kingdom. Encouraging though each police success may be, the struggle is going to be a long and difficult one. From each defeat they suffer, the terrorists will draw lessons. Their cell structure means that there are only a few senior individuals in a position to know more than what is happening in a particular team of criminals. Terrorists, meanwhile, always enjoy the advantage of choosing when and where to strike next and knowing when and where that strike will be.
Set against this, however, are the markedly improved capabilities of the Saudi security forces. Every terror attack and every terrorist lair uncovered throw up a wealth of complex new forensic and other intelligence. It is by assembling and analyzing the volumes of data that important intelligence breakthroughs are made. At the same time, the role of the public remains crucial in the war on terror. The killers must be finding it ever harder to hide in areas where they are known and might once have found sympathizers. Instead they must seek out the relative anonymity of urban areas. It is up to everyone — Saudi and expatriate — to keep his or her eyes open and report any suspicious behavior to the police. The war against terror is, after all, everybody’s fight. The struggle cannot be left to the security forces. Almost one hundred innocent civilians and over 50 security personnel have now perished at the hands of terrorists. Each one of us owes it to their memories and their courage to do our small part as well.

—Arab News