The eastern route priority

CPEC is not a single project or route, but the question is which route to take first


Dr Pervez Tahir May 28, 2015
pervez.tahir@tribune.com.pk

The Annual Plan Coordination Committee meeting on May 26 left no doubt where the priority lies. Although the chief ministers present at the National Economic Council (NEC) may raise concerns, but the eastern route has become a fait accompli. The route-change band was sleeping when the current year’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) was finalised with some key projects.

The first was land acquisition and shifting of utilities for the 959km Karachi-Lahore motorway. Its total cost is Rs51 billion, of which Rs25 billion had been utilised by June 2014. An allocation of Rs30 billion was made in 2014-15 and Rs25.5 billion were released by May 22, 2015. Second, the construction of the 276km Lahore-Abdul Hakim-Khanewal section was included. It cost Rs41.4 billion. Against an allocation of Rs6 billion in 2014-15, no release was made. Now the length has been reduced to 230km, while the cost is stated to be as high as Rs131 billion. The new allocation is Rs40 billion. This project, too, has not yet been approved.

Third, with Chinese support, construction of 387km Multan-Sukkur section was allocated Rs8.89 billion, with Rs3.89 billion having been released. The total cost of the project is Rs259.4 billion, 90 per cent of which is the Chinese credit.

Fourth, the 296km Sukkur-Hyderabad section was allocated half a billion rupees in 2014-15, but no release was made. The total cost is Rs44.4 billion. The reason perhaps is that it has not as yet been approved.

Finally, the 460km Raikot-Havelian-Islamabad section, the extension of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), was also included in the PSDP 2014-15, at a total cost of Rs364 billion and an allocation of Rs4.5 billion was made including credit financing of Rs4 billion. Again, no amount was released. For 2015-16, Rs28.5 billion is being kept for the 120km Thakot-Havelian section (total cost Rs95.4 billion), and Rs 6billion for land acquisition.

The PSDP for the next year carries this work further. The Sukkur-Hyderabad section receives Rs10.5 billion. The Lahore-Abdul Hakeem section has been allocated Rs131 billion. The Thakot-Havelian section gets Rs28.5 billion. To placate the political opponents from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the Islamabad-Dera Ismail Khan road has been allocated an amount of Rs6.8 billion out of a total cost of Rs55 billion. Similarly, Rs1.8 billion have been allocated for the Burhan-Havelian road out of a total cost of Rs39.5 billion. These projects did not appear in the PSDP for 2014-15 and have been included this year without the normal approval process. The idea is to connect K-P with the eastern route. All routes, eastern, central and western, lead to Gwadar and, therefore, all routes are the same for the Baloch. The only left-outs are the Pashtun areas of Balochistan.

It seems that the much-touted transition from stabilisation to growth effectively means going all out for the eastern route. True, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is not a single project or route, but the question is which route to take first. The allocation pattern of federal development funding suggests that the eastern route is the priority of the government. During the visit of the Chinese expert group in March this year, it was agreed that “the CPEC should be promoted on a priority basis and step by step, incorporating long, short and medium term needs” and that it should be based on the concrete conditions of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 29th,  2015.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.

COMMENTS (3)

ZahidKakar | 8 years ago | Reply So this give us very clear dimension that the Federal Government has changed the route. Infact they are safeguarding the interests of Punjabi Elite who used all their tactics to loot the other provinces. They do not care about Pakistan and its development. They only think about their earning of money through all ways. They can disintegrate Pakistan for their all interests.
Ijaz Khan | 8 years ago | Reply Within Pakistan - wow - what an argument. Sir if your all your father's inheritance goes to your stronger brother and when you object, he replies 'but it is in the family' I think such utilization of funds by one family member simply means the end of the family - its plain economics nothing more nothing less
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ