Nato supplies have high externalities.
In its 76th session on Friday, the Senate was informed that the country’s road network had suffered losses worth Rs40 billion due to overloaded Nato containers.
“The National Highway Authority has estimated a loss of about Rs40 billion due to overloaded containers of Nato/Isaf supply goods transported through Karachi-Chaman and Karachi-Torkham routes to Afghanistan,” said Communications Minister Dr Arbab Alamgir Khan.
“We have written several letters to Nato over the issue, but received no reply from their side,” he said, adding “our road network cannot sustain the heavy cargo of Nato supplies.” The supply route is currently blocked after the attack in Mohmand Agency that killed 24 soldiers.
The minister said the offence came under Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1965, but was not being implemented.
The issue surfaced during the question hour when members from Balochistan complained against discrimination of road development projects in smaller provinces.
National Party Senator Dr Abdul Malik Baloch said the PPP government had intentionally stopped development work in Balochistan and leader of the opposition Maulana Ghafoor Haideri of JUI-F endorsed his opinion.
Addressing their concerns, the minister said a lack of funds was the reason behind impeding development work and said Rs9 billion have been allocated to the province.
Development packages for the ancestral town of the Bhutto family, Larkana and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s hometown Multan were also discussed. Senator Tahir Mashadi from the MQM questioned development projects for the two cities and said other provinces, including Balochistan, should be given an equal share.
ANP walks out
The treasury benches were embarrassed at the hands of their own ally, Awami National Party (ANP), which walked out when Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was abbreviated as KPK in the written replies of the ministries.
Ilyas Bilour called upon the chair to give a ruling, binding ministries to write the full name of the province, instead of “KPK”.
Government jobs
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Maula Bux Chandio assured the house that provincial quota will be observed for recruitment in federal jobs. The assurance was given in response to objections raised by Fata and K-P senators, who said there were fewer job opportunities for people from their areas.
The session was adjourned for Monday due to Friday prayers which fell during the question hour.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2011.
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