ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah has written a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, asking him not to change the original plan of Pakistan-China Economic Corridor.
“(The) original plan needs to be followed in letter and spirit as it will have a positive impact on the economy of smaller provinces and underdeveloped areas like Fata while modification in the original plan may raise the feelings of disparity and inequality among the affectees,” Mr Shah writes in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media on Thursday.
Opposition parties, particularly nationalist parties from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, have been protesting over reports that the government is considering changing the route of the proposed economic corridor.
Opposition members boycotted the Senate proceedings on Feb 3 on the issue, despite an assurance held out by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on the floor of the house that there was no such plan under consideration of the government.
The opposition senators refused to accept the minister’s stance that China wanted Pakistan to use its existing road network for trade purpose as an interim arrangement till the completion of the economic corridor project that could take three to four years.
The opposition senators alleged that the ruling PML-N, which has a strong power base in Punjab, was changing the original route of the economic corridor by excluding many backward areas like Dera Ismail Khan, Zhob and Mianwali and including Lahore, Multan and other areas of central Punjab and Sindh in it.
Senators from the Awami National Party (ANP) had even threatened to forcibly stop the execution of the project and warned that the country would not remain united if rulers insisted on changing the route.
Mr Shah in his letter says that he has come to know that initially the route was to pass through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and reach Kashgar in China but due to the change in the original plan by the government, it will now pass through areas that fall in either Sindh or Punjab.
“I shall be grateful if you take notice of this very serious issue and direct authorities concerned to follow the original plan of Gwadar-Kashgar Economic Corridor,” Mr Shah asks the prime minister.
The minister for planning and development met JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday and told him that reports about change in the economic corridor plan were part of a “conspiracy against the major project”. He termed the reports “baseless propaganda launched to trigger controversy”.
Meanwhile, the Senate Standing Committee on Communications on Thursday issued strict directives to the ministry that the original route of Pakistan-China Economic Corridor be restored, adding that no change whatsoever would be allowed.
“The original route passing through Gwadar, Khuzdar, Quetta, Zhob, Dera Ismail Khan, Kashgar should be kept intact come what may. Priority should be given to national interests. No decision should be taken which could result in a sense of deprivation amongst people of any province. Rather, national unity should be strengthened,” stressed Senator Daud Khan Achakzai, chairman of the Senate committee.
In case the people of Balochistan were kept deprived of the benefits of their own resources, Gwadar Port could become controversial like the Kalabagh Dam, warned Mr Achakzai who belongs to the ANP.
Published in Dawn February 13th , 2015
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