ISLAMABAD: A disagreement between the centre and the Sindh government over acquisition of land for the $2 billion Port Qasim Coal Power Project (PQCPP), which is holding up the establishment of the power plant which is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), appears to revolve round legal and constitutional provisions.

The matter was recently taken up by the Parliamentary Committee on CPEC, headed by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, which made a three-day field visit to Sindh, between Jan 28 and 30, 2016. The committee observed serious problems in the development of the 1,320-megawatt PQCPP at Keti Bandar and invited the Sindh government for talks to resolve the issues.

But federal and provincial authorities have completely divergent views on the matter.

Senator Mushahid Hussain told Dawn that the two major issues plaguing the project were land acquisition and water supply. While he said that the Sindh chief minister had assured him that the water supply issue would be resolved, there were still some disputes regarding the ownership of the land allocated for the project.

“The Sindh government has, so far, not authorised the federal government to acquire the land for the project,” he said, adding that the province wanted to either become a shareholder in the project or be given equity against the land.

According to Senator Mushahid Hussain, the centre claimed that under the 1973 Constitution, Port Qasim Authority (PQA) land was owned by the federal government, while the Sindh government was of the view that under the 18th Amendment, the reclaimed land allocated for PQCPP belonged to the provincial government.

Legal situation: But Senator Taj Haider, who is also a focal person for the PPP-led Sindh government, told Dawn that PQA land was leased out to the federal government for the specific purpose of ports and shipping, not for power generation.

“Under revenue laws, the provincial government leases out its land to the federal government for a specific purpose and, in case of change of purpose, the lease agreement reverts and it becomes the sole prerogative of the provincial government to decide what to do with it,” he said.

“This is law, which should be known to every lawmaker. I am surprised that the lawmakers who recently visited Sindh are not aware of this,” Senator Haider said.

The Constitution seems to endorse this point of view. Article 152, titled ‘Acquisition of land for federal purposes’ states: “The federation may, if it deems necessary to acquire any land situated in a province for any purpose connected with a matter with respect to which parliament has power to make laws, require the province to acquire the land on behalf, and at the expense, of the federation or, if the land belongs to the province, to transfer it to the federation on such terms as may be agreed or, in default of agreement, as may be determined by an arbitrator appointed by the chief justice of Pakistan.

However, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, the PM’s special adviser on human rights, disagrees with this view. Barrister Khan, who is also an expert on property and revenue law, told Dawn that under land acquisition act, land could not be reclaimed once it was leased out or sold.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2016