GWADAR: Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo has rejected apprehensions of some political parties that Baloch people will turn into a minority in Balochistan after the Gwadar port becomes fully operational and other development projects in the port city are completed.

Mr Bizenjo, who is also the president of the National Party (NP), was speaking at a public meeting in Turbat on Friday. The meeting was held to pay tribute to leaders and workers of the NP who have sacrificed theirlives in the political strugglefor the rights of people.

He said mega development projects in Balochistan, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, were notagainstBaloch people.

Former chief minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch and other NP leaders also spoke on the occasion.

Mr Bizenjo said the Gwadar port and the CPEC would open an era of development, progress and prosperity in Makran and other divisions of Balochistan and would create ample job opportunities and economic activities. After completion of theseprojects around 10,000 Baloch people would migrate to Gwadar from other parts of Balochistan, he added.

`The CPEC will generate around 20,000 to 30,000 new jobs for local people,` he said, adding that `the people of Balochistan will be the main beneficiary of the CPEC and other mega development projects in the province`.

The minister said that after completion of the coastal highway the travel time between Gwadar and Karachi had been reduced from 24 to eight hours.

He said the killing of innocent people in the name of freedom fight should be stopped in Balochistan. `People cannot be misguided in the name of a so-called revolution,` he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Malik Baloch said 250 development schemes were announced for Turbat in the past, but they did not exist in any area of the city. He accused previous governments of being involved in corruption.

Others who spoke included NP secretary general Husan Nasir, former senator Tahir Bizenjo, Mir Rehmat Saleh Baloch and MPAs Dr Shama Ishaq, Yasmeen Lehri, Khair Jan Baloch, Tahira Khurshid, Abid Sohrabi, Rajab Ali Rind and Fida Dashti.