Causes for Balochistan backwardness to end gradually: Mamnoon

QUETTA: President Mamnoon Hussain Tuesday said that there were several causes for backwardness of Balochistan province which would be addressed accordingly.
Talking to the editors, columnists and senior journalists at the Governor House here, he also highlighted the role of government in alleviating the backwardness of the province and rejected the criticism of few elements.
The president said that the armed people involved in the unrest were surrendering which was a good sign towards development.
“Local leadership should not allow anyone to become hindrance in the execution of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as Balochistan would be a major beneficiary of the mega project,” he emphasized.
He said that the CPEC included several other mega projects such as Gwadar Deep Seaport, motorways and power generation projects, adding that Hazara Motorway, Lahore Motorway and Karachi Motorway were parts of the corridor.
He said the work on Hazara Motorway had started. “The Chinese engineers have informed me that they would also construct more motorways linking the corridor,” he added.
He said the CPEC would also generate jobs for the people of Balochistan.
About other details, the president said that CPEC also included power generation projects, run by oil, coal and atomic energy.
“About 3,000 megawatt electricity will be added in the national grid station by 2016, another 7,000 MW by 2017 and load shedding would be ended or decreased to maximum level by 2018,” he added.
He said that after completion, the Dasu and Bhasha dams would have the capacity to generate 4,500 MW power separately.
The president expressed his satisfaction over the fact that the friendly countries including China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Central Asian States had been offering financial cooperation for development projects in Pakistan, while India was behaving in hostile manner.
“Due to important geographical position and comparatively short route, the world would prefer Gwadar Port,” he said, adding that the Central Asian States had started constructing uplink roads with the CEPC.
He also urged the people to play their due role against corruption which was a hinderance in the way of development.