PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Friday warned his government won’t allow the proposed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to pass through the province if the western route was not made its part.

Sharing the details of his recent meeting with the Chinese ambassador, the CM told the provincial assembly that he asked the envoy if western route was part of the CPEC and got a reply in negative.

He insisted the ambassador again said no when he asked if western route could be made part of the CPEC.

“In such a situation, the CPEC won’t pass through KP,” he said.

Mr. Khattak told the session chaired by Speaker Asad Qaiser that the CPEC project’s execution of the CPEC was very necessary for the development of the country and KP was part of the country.

“We (KP) are part of Pakistan and let us be part of it,” he said.

The CM said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had promised that the CPEC’s western route would be constructed before the central route.

PA passes resolution asking centre to fulfil commitments on multibillion dollar project

“Now, we have learnt that the federal government will construct the western route in the shape of motorway without allied facilities,” he said.

Mr. Khattak said investors won’t bother to put their money on the western route if it was not linked with Gwadar Port and not provided security checks, electricity, railway tracks and fiber optic unlike the central route in Punjab, where all such facilities would be available.

“If only a road is considered the CPEC, then every street of KP is part of the CPEC as there is a road in every street,” he said sarcastically.

The CM said the CPEC was not a small development plan for few years and instead, it would prove a game-changer for the region.

“Big cities would be developed under the CPEC project,” he said.

He said all stakeholders of the CPEC, including China and federal government, should guarantee in writing to his government that the western route is part of the corridor.

Earlier, the assembly unanimously passed a resolution asking the federal government not only to ensure that western route is part of the multibillion dollar CPEC but also prefer it to other projects.

The resolution read out by mines and mineral development minister Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli demanded that the federal government fulfil all commitments made during the multi-party conference in letter and spirit.

The minister said the provincial government would not be satisfied until the allocation of funds for development projects and their inclusion in the CPEC project as agreed by the federal minister for planning and development Ahsan Iqbal with a delegation of the parliamentary leader of KP.

Through the resolution, the house also demanded of the federal government to fulfil all demands made by the

chief minister in a letter sent to the federal government with the consent of all parliamentary leaders of the provincial assembly.

The minister said the provincial assembly believed that the federal government would approve the above demands and would frame a mechanism for the implementation.

The resolution was signed by several ministers and lawmakers of opposition benches, excluding PML-N.

It was the fifth resolution unanimously passed by the assembly demanding the province’s due share in the CPEC project.

The four other resolutions were passed in the last one year.

The house also passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blood Transfusion Safety Authority Act, 2016, tabled by law minister Imtiaz Shahid.

The law is meant for regulating the collection, testing, processing and storage of human blood and blood components, as well as the rational use of safe blood and its products including plasma, free from viruses like HIV, Hepatitis B and C, or infective agents like Malarial Parasite and Treponema Palidum (Syphilies), etc for the purpose of transfusion of safe blood in public and private sectors.

Under the law, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blood Transfusion Safety Authority will be established.

The law states that the authority will be a body corporate, having perpetual succession and a common seal, with powers to acquire and dispose of property both movable and immovable.

“The authority will prescribe minimum standards and specification for registration and licensing of the blood banks or regional blood centres. The authority will be responsible to register and issue licenses to blood banks and regional blood center in private sector on payment of such fee and in manner as may be prescribed.”

Under the law, several committees will be established, including technical committee, licensing committee, hospital blood transfusion committee, district blood transfusion committee and grievances redressal committee.

The chair later adjourned the session until Oct 17.

Published in Dawn October 8th, 2016