KP Assembly asks Centre to restore economic corridor route

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly on Thursday took a strong notice of neglecting the province by the Centre in the proposed Pakistan-China Economic Corridor and asked the federal government to restore the original route between Kashgar and Gwadar that passes through the main cities of KP.
The provincial assembly also formed a committee, headed by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and comprising two members each from the treasury and opposition benches, to take up with the federal government the issue of KP shares in federal and foreign loans and investment.
The provincial assembly passed unanimous resolutions pertaining to payment of net hydel profit, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s share in Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and its full control over the gas and oil generated in the province.
Through an adjournment motion, parliamentary leader of Qaumi Watan Party Sikandar Hayat Sherpao said the militancy-stricken Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was ignored in the huge investment plan signed by the Chinese president during his recent visit to Pakistan.
“The agreement was apparently signed between China and a particular province of Pakistan as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was given negligible share in the 45 billion dollars investment,” he said, adding that it had caused a sense of deprivation and grave concern among the Pakhtuns.
Quoting some articles from the Constitution, the QWP leader said the federal government must take all the federating units into confidence with regard to the foreign concessional loans, investments and federal development funds. He also criticised the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for not presenting the case of the province in an appropriate manner on its share in the Chinese investment and changes in the Kashgar-Gwadar Economic Corridor.
Provincial Minister for Education Mohammad Atif Khan admitted on the assembly floor that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was not officially briefed on the proposed changes in the route of the economic corridor. He stressed that the federal government should take onboard the country’s leadership, particularly those from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor. “We don’t know whether any changes had been made in the previous route between Kashgar and Gwadar,” he added.
Ahmad Khan Bahadar of Awami National Party, Raja Faisal Zaman of Pakistan Muslim League-N and Mufti Syed Janan of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F assured their full support to the provincial government in its struggle for provincial rights and due share in the federal as well as foreign loans and development funds.
Meanwhile, the provincial assembly unanimously passed a joint resolution asking the federal government to increase Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s share in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and release 83 percent remaining amount to the province at once so that the ongoing projects under PSDP could be completed on time.
In a separate resolution, the provincial assembly asked for the early payment of the capped amount of net hydel profit with arrears and mark-up rates to the province so that it could be reflected in the next budget.
Through another resolution, the provincial assembly demanded that under article 158 of the Constitution, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should be empowered to utilise the natural gas generated in the province for its own use, including establishing thermal power plants to overcome the energy crisis in the province.