CPEC takes centre stage at K-P Assembly

MPAs say govt is ignoring small provinces, health bill not passed

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly MPAs on Monday slammed the Centre for neglecting the western route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, saying it was far more focused on the eastern path.

The treasury and opposition benches unanimously passed a joint resolution in Tuesday’s session, recommending that the consensus reached on May 28 at the All Parties Conference (APC) be implemented in letter and spirit. Through the resolution, the house informed the federal government that straying from decisions made at the APC would not be accepted by the people of K-P and could disrupt harmony among the provinces.

Revisiting the routes

QWP chief Sikander Sherpao said the federal government was focusing on the eastern route of the corridor which passes through Lahore and Islamabad. He added the western route crossing DI Khan and Zhob was not given as much consideration.

While reading the resolution from a paper, Sherpao said the maps which had been defined and allocations made in the federal budget created doubts over the western route. He said people had become sceptical over the Centre’s plans. “This shows that the western route will remain the same old single road on the National Highway.”

He added the federal government was paying attention to one province and ignoring other federating units. He called the corridor a game-changer, saying it would take Pakistan from a status of geostrategic interest to having a geo-economic position. “Along with the $46 billion, further investments will also be made in the route,” he said. “Investment of over Rs15 trillion is expected; an amount four times larger than the [present] federal budget.”

United they stand

Also present in the house, Awami National Party leader Syed Jaffar Shah called it the “Punjab-China Economic Corridor”, saying it would increase disparity among the provinces. “Punjab is also our province. They [the federal government] say that times are changing,” he said. “We hope Punjab becomes like England, but we should at least become developed like Singapore.”



He added not a single industrial zone would be established in “poor K-P” under the CPEC projects. “Those who speak about the project are called foreign agents. We are not agents.” He said K-P wants the corridor to be a true trade route between China and Pakistan and not just some parts of the country.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s Inayatullah Khan said, “The federal government is very diplomatically ignoring the western route and focusing on the eastern one.” He referred to his meeting with the Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal who told him that India was intolerant of the project and making it controversial. He added whenever we discuss the issue with the federal government they link us to India.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Mushtaq Ghani also presented his party’s stance, warning the federal government he said, “The project has to pass through K-P under any condition.” He added Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and PTI Chairperson Imran Khan were clear on their stance.

Straying from the agenda

Although CPEC was the main highlight of the session, it was not on the agenda which originally had the K-P Health Foundation Bill 2015 on it. The bill had to be passed, but was stalled due to the absence of the minister for health. Other matters discussed included the resolution of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MPA Amina Sardar who asked the federal government to mark December 16 as a black day and observe it annually.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2015.