January 28, 2007	Sunday	Muharram 08, 1428

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QUETTA, Jan 27: A road will be built to connect the Gwadar port with Reko Dik, the place having billions of tons of copper reserves in Chagai district of Balochistan. This was revealed at a meeting presided over by provincial chief secretary K.B. Rind here on Saturday. He directed the Plan-ning and Development Department to prepare the PC-1 of the road project as soon as possible.

Mr Rind directed the officials and departments concerned to accelerate the pace of work on the project. He said the road would be built by connecting Panjgur with Naukundi on a priority basis and later on it would be linked with Reko Dik mining fields and the Gwadar port in two different directions.

It was decided at the meeting that an airport at Reko Dik would be built for which the provincial revenue department has been asked to allot land.

The chief secretary said that with the implementation of the project, people would get employment opportunities besides Balochistan receiving a big economic boost by exploiting its rich mineral wealth, particularly copper and gold, from Reko Dik.

Reko Dik was close to the Saindak gold and copper fields in Chagai district. Saindak is facing difficulties in exporting tens of thousands of blister copper to China and other buyers in absence of road and other communication facilities.

Additional Chief Secretary Development Captain (Retd) Qayyum Nazar Changezi, Finance Secretary Mahfooz Ali Khan, Secretary Law Abdullah Khan Kakar, Balochistan Development Authority Chairman and others participated in the meeting. The meeting reviewed the pace of development of the Reko Dik project.