KP accuses Centre of reneging on CPEC pledges

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is claiming to have ‘unearthed’ the alleged federal government plan for depriving the province of its due rights in context of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) despite the announcements and commitments that were made publicly earlier.
An official handout said that Chief Minister Pervez Khattak decided during a meeting at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat to stage widespread protests against what he called the ‘deceitful act’ on the part of the federal government.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Minister for Mineral Development Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli, Additional Chief Secretary Dr Hammad Owais Agha, Chairman of Strategic Planning Unit of the CM Secretariat Sahibzada Muhammad Saeed, KP Ulasi Tehrik leader Dr Said Alam Mahsud, Tariq Afghan Advocate and others attended the meeting.
The chief minister announced that every relevant forum would be used by the KP government to protect the rights of the province.
Pervez Khattak said that all parliamentary parties in the provincial assembly would be taken onboard for this unprecedented protest.
He warned that the KP government would withdraw its cooperation being extended for executing CPEC project until its reservations were not removed.
He said as part of its protest, KP government might stop land acquisition process for the KP portion of the project.
It was disclosed by Dr Said Alam Mahsud, a political activist and leader of the civil society organization, Ulasi Tehrik, that the federal government had allocated only 1.4 percent for KP compared to Punjab that would be getting 80.4 percent of the total budget allocation of Rs359 billion for 2015-17.
He said KP’s share would be spent on the only hydropower project of Suki Kinari in Mansehra district.
The meeting was informed that the six key components of CPEC had also been changed in favour of Punjab while the Dera Ismail Khan-Mianwali-Burhan link of the western route was also missing in the latest map of CPEC route, which was kept secret by the federal government.
It was found that Mianwali was being linked with Islamabad through another planned road at a cost of Rs10 billion under the Public Sector Development Programme.
Quoting the documents of the Planning Commission of Pakistan and some other sources, Dr Said Alam Mahsud said that the total cost of CPEC had been calculated at 145 billion US dollars that would be extended to the government of Pakistan in shape of loan. He said that the promised $500 billion Chinese investment would be made only at the start and end points of corridor and that too not before the year 2024.
It was also revealed that Rs95 billion (51.35 percent) of the total Rs185 billion budget earmarked for the current year for the Motorway project of the corridor would be spent on the eastern route while the remaining 48.65 percent budget would be utilised for connecting Lahore with Gwadar and Karakoram Highway.
With reference to the monographic study of the roads and their facts reflected in the maps and other documents of the federal government, it was revealed that the Metro bus and underground fast track railways project had also been incorporated into CPEC to link Rawalpindi with Karachi through Gujranwala, Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad, thus totally excluding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Commenting on the designs of the federal government in connection with CPEC, the chief minister lamented that the federal government’s betrayal had shocked the KP government as well as people of the province and shattered their trust in the federal authorities.
Criticising the federal government’s attitude towards CPEC plan with reference to KP’s rights, Pervez Khattak recalled that a national consensus was evolved when KP government had voiced concern against the usurpation of the province’s rights in respect of CPEC and it was assured publicly by the federal government that all provinces would get equal share in CPEC projects and the western route would not only be included in the project but it would also be built on priority basis.
He regretted that nothing of sort had been found in the Planning Commission documents as well as the federal budgetary allocations. He said the federal government was hiding everything regarding CPEC and keeping the smaller provinces including KP in the dark.
However, he announced that KP government would not tolerate such injustice to the people of the province and would go to every extent for protecting the rights of the province.
He said all parliamentary parties of KP Assembly will be taken into confidence for launching joint protest campaign against backing out of the commitments made on May 28 last on CPEC and as a first step the ongoing process of acquisition of land for the corridor would be stopped by KP government.