HARIPUR: The plan to create thousands of new jobs through industrialisation has hit snags as the provincial government and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (EZDMC) have failed to make Hattar Special Economic Zone operational even after lapse of five years.

Former chief minister Pervez Khattak had performed the groundbreaking of 424 acres Hattar Special Economic Zone (HSEZ) in 2015 and during his address he had announced several incentives for investors.

The incentives included 100 per cent custom duty exemption on import of machinery, 15-24 per cent reduction in corporate income tax, which included 5 per cent discount on capital markup, 25 per cent discount on land purchase and five years waiver of income tax to those industries that the investors would establish before Sept 2018.

According to one of the investors, soon after inauguration the investors purchased SEZ’s land that was divided into 150 plots.However, sources told this correspondent that as EZDMCcould not develop the plots as per conditions set by the provincial government, only a few of the investors had completed civil work and installation of machinery, but they were unable to start production as the SEZ had no gas, electricity, road network, drainage and other infrastructure required for production and marketing of products.

Investors say the zone lacks power and basic infrastructure

During a visit to the SEZ, this correspondent observed that some of the roads carpeted three years ago had developed ditches, while a few byroads had been washed away during rains.

The SEZ known as phase-VII of Hattar Industrial Zone is still without gas and electricity.

When contacted, Hattar Special Economic Zone Management Board’s president Altaf Khan confirmed that Hattar SEZ lacked basic infrastructure mandatory for industrialisation.

“Investors are ready to complete civil work and installation of machinery, but the EZDMC and the provincial government are yet to fulfil the promises they had made for attracting investors,” he said. He said that a total of 10 megawatts of electricity and 2.5 mmcfd gas were requirements of the industrialists for making Hattar SEZ functional. Answering a question, Altaf Khan said HSEZ had the capacity of creating 10,000 new jobs.

EZDMC director Ali Ozgan was not available for comments. However, one of his junior officers told this correspondent that civil work on 132KV grid station was in full swing while tenders for carpeting of inner roads would be floated soon. He said funds required for gas supply to the zone had also been deposited with SNGPL.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2020