Fair to all

If Pakistan has to raise its game in infrastructure-driven development, it has to become more adept as well as efficient at settling the compensatory claims of those affected by the construction of key projects. Unless that is done soon, one can foresee a majority of the country’s projects getting bogged down by unnecessary delays. Take, for example, the case of 1,000 people affected by the construction of a 60-kilometre-long tunnel running between Kas Bridge to Thakoot Bridge. Instead of quickly arranging for funds so that the dislocated communities could be compensated, the issue was allowed to fester beyond the patience of many.



In the wake of this uncertainty, an irate group of residents in Battagram’s Gajborai area stormed the site of a China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project and halted further construction work there. With little to go on except for verbal promises, the residents decided to get some assurance from the tunnel builders themselves even though they were probably aware that storming a project site would have legal consequences. Their fears, however, got the best of them. Even at this point the action committee is unclear about which houses would be demolished and how many tracts of land would ultimately be seized. The district administration has been suitably vague on this issue — if the owners of the land are to be believed. They claim that they were also not told when formal work would begin on the project.

Since the area from Kas Bridge to Thakoot Bridge is commercial property, the landowners insist on being paid at a commercial rate, citing several other instances in Abbottabad, Haripur and Mansehra. Transparency is important at all levels: the tunnel construction plans must be shared with all the parties concerned, especially those who own the land. Everyone has a right to expect a fair deal.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2017.

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