It has given no plans for giving a boost to the province‘s economy as it depends only on the NFC award where the money flows in and spent on sectors with no emphasis on improving the livelihood of the people at the grassroots level. Such deprivation is a major contributor to the province having become restive.
First of all, the government has no set plan or programme to begin the accountability process where billions of rupees given by the federal exchequer have gone into a few pockets depriving the masses of the benefits of such support. Some of those, who were part of the previous governments, are again ministers and lawmakers in the treasury and opposition benches of the present Balochistan Assembly.
They are profusely advocating transparency plus highlighting the corruption of the previous government of which they themselves were a part. This is the height of hypocrisy.
All those who have plundered the wealth of the province and the country should be brought to book irrespective of who the person is. Recoveries should be made from them so that the rest at the helm of affairs, learn a lesson and be more careful. Financial discipline can only be expected when the previous plunderers are taken to task.
Ironically though it may seem, another sad issue is when the lawmakers become ministers. Then, they entirely forget that once they become ministers, they have to act more responsibly in the affairs of the province. But still, it is generally seen that their emphasis is only on their own constituencies from where they expect to be reelected to stay in power.
This state of affairs demands more powers for the local governments that can give rightful attention to the areas of their jurisdictions. Generally, there is a clash between the legislators and members of the local governments on distribution of funds, a problem that the provincial government will have to address.
Absurd idea
It is learnt that the development of Special Economic Zones is on the anvil during the upcoming financial year 2014-15. This looks absurd as who would come and invest in these zones with the present law and order situation in the dilapidated province.
Foreigners have to get a visa to come to Pakistan and then again, apply for permission to the interior ministry to visit Balochistan. The visa is much easier to get against the permission from the Ministry of Interior that may take months, years or may never come.
There are cases where potential investors have applied to the ministry and their applications are pending for the last three years with no response. Even if the permission is granted, it is another task to obtain no-objection from the provincial Home Department in Quetta. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and other aid agencies have several ongoing projects in Balochistan relating to agriculture, livestock, fisheries, etc, but the foreigners have to depend on their workers or proxies to carry on the operations.
It is mandatory for their auditors to visit the project areas, failing which the funding can be stopped and so will the projects, in which case, it can be devastating for the province. The foreign operators are not being given permission to visit the project sites on the pretext of law and order and security.
Investment board
The formation of the Board of Investment for the province is a good omen. But again, does the board have anything to offer to potential investors? When speaking about mineral resources, yes, Balochistan is blessed with minerals but the question arises what are these minerals? What is the extent of the deposits of such minerals? What is the quality of such minerals? Are there any areas available that can be offered to potential local or foreign investors? Has any such data been documented after detailed exploration?
Answers to all these questions are in the negative. It is, therefore, inevitable that the government should take experts on board for a systematic approach to identify the potential not only in mineral resources, but also in renewable energy, agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors. Only then the BOI can offer such projects to potential investors.
The flawed mining rules should be revisited to make them more conducive to foreign investors, especially the rules relating to exploration leases where fresh criteria should be considered. The Balochistan government should consider having its own fully equipped Geological Survey of Balochistan to explore its resources and to support small mine owners at subsidised rates.
It seems that there are too many holes needing to be plugged before any changes could be visible in the improvement of livelihood and before any positive change can be expected in respect of the economic health of the province.
The writer is the former project director and deputy managing director of Saindak Copper Gold Project, Chagai district, Balochistan
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2014.
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amazing analysis of the reality problems.....