IN the current phase of economic stress and recent political pressures in the region, the business community dreads any tension with China caused by loose talk from youthful leaders of the ruling party.

“A position in the assemblies comes with responsibility; the sooner the next generation digests this, the better. We must not test the patience of a precious few friends,” an irate business leader in Karachi shared his opinion with Dawn on the corruption allegations prevalent in the Multan-Sukkur Motorway Project on condition of anonymity.

“I see no harm in expecting and demanding transparency in CPEC projects but hollow allegations can snowball into another disaster that the country is in no position to sustain,” he said.

‘Instead of scoring political points based on each other’s weaknesses, our well-meaning but naïve parliamentarians need training and crash courses to effectively partake in nation building’

Last week the reaction of a Chinese state-owned company to corruption charges by Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed was strong and out of character. In a contrast from China’s traditionally nuanced and restrained stance, particularly in matters that involve Pakistan, this time around the response was blunt and direct.

“I hope and pray that it was the reaction of the company and not the country,” another businessman intently following geopolitics aired his apprehensions in the backdrop of an environment that is not particularly congenial for Pakistan.

The Chinese state-owned company issued a press statement in which it called out the minister. Earlier, Mr Saeed in a press conference mentioned the Multan-Sukkur Motorway and reportedly alleged that the PML-N leadership colluded with the director of the China State Construction Engineering Corporation in Pakistan to skim Rs70 billion from the Rs292bn project.

The six-lane access controlled 392km motorway is financed by China through a government concessional loan that is supervised in Pakistan by the Ministry of Communications. According to seniors in the implementing agency — the National Highway Authority (NHA) which reports to the Ministry of Communications — 85 per cent of the work on the project that was launched in January 2016 has already been completed.

Mr Saeed, when approached, declined to comment on the controversy, rejecting what he considered a ‘biased and doctored’ view. Informally talking to Dawn over the phone, he expressed complete and unconditional support for CPEC and expressed anger over one-sided follow-up reports.

“I should have been approached before arriving at flimsy conclusions and raising questions about my commitment to this country and its future. I am a simple man who believes in the rule of law and am confident that the country and its people deserve better,” he said refusing to respond in writing to a query.

Some bureaucrats who have been handling CPEC-related affairs in Islamabad were also upset.

“I wonder what it will take for the PTI leadership to understand that we already have more than we can chew on our plate. In a resource-deficit country with crumbling infrastructure, the multi-billion dollar CPEC injection was a Godsend,” remarked a senior officer who has participated in the China-Pakistan collaborative process.

“Many people have worked hard to make the most of it. I respectfully urge the federal ministers to shun the habit of thinking aloud in public and learn to position more responsibly,” he said.

Higher-ups in the NHA were contacted to establish the merit of the feisty minister’s allegations.

“We are government servants and can only speak to the media at the cost of our jobs. There is a difference in a project on the drawing board and one on the ground. Yes, adjustments were made to suit the realities but, to the best of my knowledge, without any ill intent or financial corruption,” a very senior officer told Dawn privately over the phone from Lahore.

NHA Chairman Jawad Rafique Malik is said to be busy preparing for the inauguration of the Sindh-half of the said motorway this week and was not available to shed light on the issue.

“With democracy achieved, we now need to focus on learning how to improve its quality. Yes, the active citizenry will steer the system in the right direction but that takes time. It will serve us better if we can start by educating our legislators on primary economic and diplomatic issues. It will save us from avoidable embarrassment and the economic cost of irresponsible utterances,” an economist asserted.

“Instead of scoring political points based on each other’s weaknesses, our well-meaning but naïve parliamentarians need training and crash courses to effectively partake in nation building,” he advised.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, February 25th, 2019