Govt to address KP’s reservations over CPEC: Mahtab

PESHAWAR: Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan on Wednesdayassured the business community that the federal government would address its reservations on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
He termed illegal checkposts on Torkham-Peshawar Road as official batha (extortion) collection points.He was addressing the members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KPCCI) at the Chamber House.
Flanked by Fuad Ishaq, KPCCI president, Senator Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, leader of the Businessmen Forum, Senator Nauman Wazir, the governor said that soon Federal Minister for Planning and Development and Reforms, Ahsan Iqbal, will visit the province to brief stakeholders on CPEC and remove concerns regarding route of the project.
He advised leaders of the business community to grasp all information about the status of the CPEC route before raising it with the federal government.The governor also referred to the fragile security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and said the province was passing through trying times for the last 10 years that adversely affected its every sector.
“What happened to the province and tribal areas during the last 10 years or after 9/11 is a national tragedy. But over the last 10 months with all my wisdom and vision I am looking at all the things,” he remarked.He said peace in the tribal region was inevitable and it was returning as a result of the Operation Zarb-e-Azb.
“I am personally part of it (Zarb-e-Azb) as I am convinced it has to be done. As a resilient nation, we are ready to go anywhere after them (militants),” the governor stressed.Responding to the remarks of the KPCCI president about the checkposts on the Torkham-Peshawar Road and illegal weighing scale at Jamrud, Sardar Mahtab likened these checkposts to batha and parchi (chit) for extortions, saying “it is sort of batha collection in the government system and I will take steps to remove all this.”
He said the government has made plans to establish one-window facilitation service at Torkham border crossing to provide facilities to the traders.“Modern warehouses will also be established to facilitate importers and exporters and enhance trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs),” he said.
The governor added that work on Peshawar-Torkham Road would positively be completed till the end of June.He said he had written to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to award ‘Hilal-e-Istiqlal’ to the people of Peshawar. “Our people and law-enforcing agencies personnel have rendered enormous sacrifices that ought to be recognized,” he opined.
Earlier, Fuad Ishaq said the security was main concern of the business community of the province. “The traders and industrialists are still receiving parchi for batha,” he complained while highlighting the issue of extortion.
Seeking protection and security for the masses and businesses in the province, the KPCCI president said stern action should be taken against the extortion mafia and people involved in collection of toll taxes at illegal checkposts and the weighing scale in Jamrud.
Fuad Ishaq said the business community needed an incentive package to offset the adverse effects of decade-long militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He lamented that the relief package announced by the previous government for the business community had been withdrawn. “It should be restored,” he demanded.
The KPCCI chief asked the governor to help withdraw the moratorium of the federal government banning new industrial gas connections in the province.He also raised the issue of low lending by the commercial banks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “It is around one percent, while bank deposits ratio is over 37 percent in the province.Senator Ilyas Bilour and Senator Nauman Wazir highlighted the issues and problems being faced by the people of the province in general and business community in particular.