A portrait of the Reko Diq area hangs on the wall of the Balochistan Mines and Minerals Development office. A water tanker and an old haul truck are pictured in the backdrop of black land and mountains.“Dr Samar Mubarakmand Sahib was extracting copper and gold at the Reko Diq site with this water tanker and haul truck,” remarks a person in jest.

In March 2002, the provincial government of Balochistan established the department of Mines and Minerals Development. And under its vision, a project called the Balochistan Copper Gold Project (BCGP) was initiated by the former chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani government to operate Reko Diq. Nuclear scientist Dr Samar Mubarakmand was tasked with finding a way to do so. But these plans ended in nought. And it briefly sums up the authorities’ interests in such mega projects meant to transform the fate of the people in the country.

After a long hiatus, the federal and Balochistan governments signed an agreement on the Reko Diq project with the Canadian company Barrick Gold after the Supreme Court endorsed a settlement to resume mining.

The Saindak project is situated next to Reko Diq in the same district on its western side, and the distance between Saindak and Reko Diq is roughly 50km. Having been to Saindak, the socio-economic condition of locals (although those are bad as well) is far much better than their counterparts in Reko Diq.

As evidenced by Saindak, even the mining of the multi-billion dollar Reko Diq project will not improve the lives of the locals

Unfortunately, the impoverished Baloch hardly seem to benefit from the project other than securing menial jobs. Their consent has not been part of the overall development process, nor has anything taken up their concerns or interests.

If the project economically developed the locals, it could develop the province and, in turn, the country. It would pave the way for future investment and development projects in the resource-rich province.

Projects such as Reko Diq can change the fate of its province and the country in general. Instead, the higher authorities pursue their vested interests over the public interest. That is what has happened in the Saindak project, which could not change the fate of the six villages adjacent to the project site, let alone the district and the province. Considering such examples and past experiences, it is unlikely that the Reko Diq will make a distinction in the lives of the Baloch.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, January 2nd, 2023