Saindak project: Senator objects to Chinese firm’s lease extension

Mir Kabeer Ahmed says provincial govt is entitled to take such a decision

ISLAMABAD: A senator from Balochistan has questioned the federal government’s authority to grant extension in a Chinese company’s lease to extract minerals from the Saindak Copper and Gold Project and threatened to challenge the extension in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

“Under the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan plan, the Saindak project was supposed to be under the control of the provincial government. Then how come you granted the extension?” Senator Mir Kabeer Ahmed said on Monday during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum.

“I am going to challenge it in the Supreme Court,” he added.

Officials of the Petroleum Division said a Chinese company is working on the Saindak Copper and Gold Project and its lease has been extended till 2022.The officials said that the extension was granted with the consent of the Balochistan government. However, Senator Kabeer questioned the move.

“The Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) has already sued the government in connection with the project at an international forum. The TCC is demanding $12 billion from Pakistan,” the senator added.

The Senate committee later sought an in-camera briefing on the Reko Diq and Saindak projects after holding a thorough discussion on mining of copper and gold deposits in Balochistan.

Earlier, Additional Secretary Mian Asad Hayaud Din told the panel that the Petroleum Division was considering a proposal for establishing a special security force for protection of oil and gas blocks.

“We are going to brief the prime minister on security issues in some oil and gas exploration blocks, suggesting the formation of a special security force as the exploration and production (E&P) companies are spending around R14 billion annually on the security of their crew and machinery,” he said.

The committee stressed strict monitoring of the Saindak and Reko Diq projects.

The Petroleum Division officials told the committee that all activities in the field are well documented and verified by various government agencies, including the Customs, the Export Promotion Zone Authority (Epza), the Federal Board of Revenue and the Directorate General of Mines and Minerals, Balochistan.

They said the commodities brought to or taken away from the project area are documented by both Epza and Customs authorities. The products transported from Saindak to Karachi are treated as ‘bounded consignment’, they added.

The officials said the chief inspector of mines department regularly monitors the mining operations to ensure safety and health of workers. Besides, technical experts and mining engineers are deployed to monitor the operational activities.

They said extracted products are weighed and sampled at laboratories. Accounts of the contractor are audited by a reputed Pakistani chartered accountant firm appointed in consultation with the Saindak Metals Limited (SML).

A subcommittee on petroleum has submitted a report on the recruitment of locals and social welfare activities under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) schemes of the oil and gas companies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The meeting was also informed by representatives of the Mari Petroleum Company Limited that it was going to start seismic surveys in Zarghon and Block-28 from March and April respectively, adding that the survey takes about a year as per international practice.

The meeting was attended by Lt Gen (retd) Salahuddin Tirmizi, Mir Kabeer Ahmed, Saleem Zia, Shamim Afridi, Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasar along with senior officers from the ministry and the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL).