QUETTA: The central cabinet of the National Party on Sunday rejected the Reko Dig copper-cum-gold project agreement signed by representatives of the federal and Balochistan governments with Barrick Gold Corporation of Canada, and termed the agreement `anti-people`.

Presided over by party`s President Dr Malik Baloch, the NP`s central cabinet reviewed the agreement in detail and observed that foreign control over natural resources of the people of Balochistan was not acceptable for the party.

The participants of the meeting were of the opinion that the new agreement was a fraud with the people of Balochistan in the name of development. The meeting pledged not to allow the Balochistan government to sell out natural resources of the province at throwaway prices.

`The people of Balochistan and the National Party reject the Reko Dig Copper-Cum-Gold Project agreement outright,` said a statement issued by the party after its Central Cabinet meeting late Sunday night.

It said the Balochistan government had ratified the agreement at its meeting of the provincial cabinet in which a majority of the cabinet members were not present, which proved the dishonesty of the provincial government in approving the agreement.

Besides, it said, the federal government had also lost its mandate af ter the tabling of a no-confidence motion against the prime minister in the National Assembly.

It said that the terms and conditions of the Reko Dig agreement had not been mentioned and they had been kept secret and, therefore, such an accord was not acceptable to the NP and the people of Balochistan as they were not aware of the details of the agreement. The party said the agreement was also unacceptable because it had been signed at a time when the country was witnessing political turmoil.