JI asks for census, clear stance on CPEC’s western route

Urges federal govt to start working on key route of corridor

PESHAWAR: The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has called upon the federal government to conduct a population count and clear its stance on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’s western route. The party’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) chapter on Sunday said that the delay in the population census has deprived the smaller provinces of their financial share.

JI’s provincial Amir Mushtaq Ahmad Khan made the demand during a news conference related to the all parties conference (APC) called by JI on the CPEC at its provincial headquarters.



Mushtaq, along with Finance Minister Muzaffar Said, lamented that the NFC award promised by the federal government is yet to be provided to the province. Mushtaq added that he had no hope of seeing its provision in the near future.

The provincial chief of JI during the press conference briefed the media about the APC which is been scheduled to be held on November 15th. He said that during the APC JI will hope to develop a one point agenda with all the parties. He added that the agenda will focus on the resentment which exists between the provinces about the un-equal distribution of the projects under CPEC.

Mushtaq said, “CPEC is a fortune changer for the country and neglecting smaller provinces in the project will not be tolerated at any cost.” He added that CPEC is not only a road but will bring prosperity for every citizen of the country.



He also revealed that all political parties of K-P have assured that they will participate in the APC. The JI leaders said that the APC will be briefed about the current status of all the routes. He added that the briefing will be done by the party.

Mushtaq appealed to the federal government to provide resources under the National Finance Commission according to the population census.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2016.