CPEC’s western route
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has stressed the need for presenting credible evidence to the public at large to dispel once for all the misconceptions about the Western route of the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.
The provincial government has also sought attachment of its representative to the CPEC directorate in Islamabad to keep it abreast of the developments on the mega project that is being described as the game-changer for Pakistan and also the region.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak sent a letter on March 4 to the Minister of Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal to remind him of their meeting on February 15 during which crucial decisions were taken to overcome the reservations of the provincial government regarding the Western route of the CPEC and also a number of allied projects.
The chief minister’s letter recalled that it had been decided at the meeting that under the CEPC the Western corridor would have eight industrial parks at Battagram, Mansehra, Haripur, Karnal Sher Interchange on the Motorway (M-I), Malakand-Chakdara Interchange, Swat, Bannu (on the Indus Highway) and Dera Ismail Khan. The letter recalled that the provincial government had agreed to provide commercial feasibility for these industrial parks in due course of time.
“It was also decided that the Planning Commission would ensure all the requisite amenities such as electricity, gas, telephone lines, fibre optics, railway and other relevant services for these parks,” the letter noted.
The chief minister’s letter also reminded Ahsan Iqbal of the decision that the industrial parks would be part of the economic policy, transport and social sector policy and information technology (IT) programme as per the CPEC concepts.
The letter added that the circular railway line from Peshawar to Nowshera, Mardan, Charsadda and back to Peshawar, western railway track from Dera Ismail Khan to Peshawar, motorway form Dera Ismail Khan to Peshawar and from Karak to Taxila via Kohat-Jhand should also be initiated as some of the major components of the CPEC’s western alignment.
The chief minister reminded about his proposal to the Planning Commission that a representative of the provincial government should be associated with the CPEC directorate, Islamabad, on fulltime basis.
He also proposed that members of the provincial government should be taken on the Joint Working Groups (JWG) and Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) on energy, industry, transport and other sectors.
He also expressed his expectation that the Planning Commission would assure and communicate availability of funds and timeline for the route and its allied facilities before the groundbreaking ceremony of the western alignment scheduled to be held on July 18, 2016.
The chief minister also expressed the confidence that the decisions on the agreed components would be implemented. However, he pointed out that there was still need to provide credible evidence to the public at large to dispel the misconceptions about the western corridor.
Earlier, Khaliq-ur-Rehman, parliamentary secretary in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, represented the province at the 5th Joint Committee Meeting and briefed the Chinese delegation about the provincial government’s views on the CPEC.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak told the media on Saturday that he was impatiently awaiting the response of the federal government to his letter. He said the provincial government would decide its future line of action once the federal government’s reply is received so that the objectives and aspirations of the province from the CPEC are achieved.
