QUETTA: The secretary general of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Mau­lana Abdul Ghafoor Hai­d­eri, on Thursday urged the government to turn the China-Pakistan Econo­mic Corridor into a ‘true mega project’ by removing reservations about the western route amo­ng the people of Balo­chistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Speaking at a press conference, he said without removing reservations of these two provinces, the CPEC project would remain ‘controversial’.

The provincial general secretary of JUI-F, Sikan­dar Khan, and other party leaders were also present on the occasion.

The deputy chairman of Senate, Maulana Haideri, said that the government should make plans regarding CPEC public and inform political parties where the economic zones would be set up in Balochistan.

Maulana Haideri expressed deep sorrow over the PIA plane crash and called for an impartial and transparent inquiry into the tragedy.

“It is the government’s responsibility to make the details of the inquiry report public to satisfy the people,” he said.

Talking about the Panamagate scandal, he said that if the apex court constituted a commission for inquiry into the case with consensus of the stakeholders, the JUI-F would have no objection, adding that it was the parliament’s right to take decisions on such matters based on mutual agreement.

Referring to the performance of Quetta Metro­po­li­tan Corporation (QMC), Maulana Haideri said the government allotted Rs42 billion for Quetta’s development.

A big portion of the funds was looted and wasted without any investment in the provincial capital.

Reg­retting that the provincial government was not taking notice of the misuse of the QMC funds, he requested the federal government to conduct an impartial inquiry into the matter.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2016