QUETTA: The special committee of the Balochistan Assembly on Saindak project at its first meeting held on Monday asked the departments concerned to submit reports about royalty so far paid to the provincial government by the Chinese company.

The committee had been formed two years ago by Speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo when MPA Sanaullah Baloch had moved a resolution in the Balochistan Assembly demanding handing over of the Saindak project to the Balochistan government as after the passage of the 18th Constitution Amendment by the parliament it had become a provincial subject.

Chinese Company MCC Resources Development Company Limited (MRDL) took over the Saindak project in Chagai district in 2002 and it has been running the project since then.

Chairman of the committee Sanaullah Baloch informed the meeting that he had filed a petition in the Balochistan High Court on the Saindak project issue.

Members of the committee congratulated Mr Baloch over his election as the chairman of the panel and expressed the hope that now the committee chairman would take up the issue of Saindak project with the federal government.

“We hope that committee chairman Sanaullah Baloch will raise his voice for the rights of Balochistan,” Asadullah Baloch said.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2021