PESHAWAR: Protesting the change in the route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said on Wednesday that he would raise voice against it at every forum including the Council of Common Interests (CCI). Speaking at a news conference at the Chief Minister’s House, he said he had already talked to the Sindh and Balochistan governments and urged the federal government to immediately restore the previous route of the mega project to end sense of deprivation among the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The chief minister said his government had welcomed the Chinese president and China’s economic package as it would bring positive results for Pakistan but his government had reservations over the changes made in the route. He said he had already directed the secretary law to review the legal aspects of the changes in Gwadar-Kashgar route. The chief minister asked the federal government to revive the previous Gwadar-Kashgar route and not to exclude Dera Ismail Khan district from the project. He said the previous route was 635 kilometres shorter than the new one that would pass through Haripur, Mianwali, Bakkar, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Karachi and onward to Gwadar. The chief minister said the federal government should make it clear if there was any change in the previous route and what would be the benefits and losses of the alteration. He said the KP government would protest against the federal government if the southern districts were excluded from the Gwadar-Kashgar project. He said any change would deprive KP of the actual benefits of the Gwadar-Kashgar corridor.To a question, he said, “I am not aware of the exact previous route but we want the inclusion of southern districts of KP, especially Dera Ismail Khan in the route.” Pervez Khattak expressed concern over the signing of $11 billion agreement with Punjab out of the total $46 billion investment. He added that KP would get only $2.7 billion share while Sindh would get $ 9 billion. He said that after the 18th Amendment, the four provinces should have equal share in foreign investment. He said most of the power generation projects by China were signed with the Punjab government. He said the KP government had already prepared feasibility of 5,000 megawatt power generation through hydel-power. “It would be cost effective compared to solar and wind power generation projects signed with the Chinese investors,” he added. . Pervez Khattak questioned as to how Pakistan would be able to return the investment money to the Chinese government.He expressed dissatisfaction over the procedure to be adopted as per the agreements signed with the Chinese government. He said, “I am doubtful about the transparency of the projects as the two governments would constitute two parties to finalise agreements and subsequently the rates without any open competition.” To a question, the chief minister said it was not right that his government couldn’t utilise development funds. He said KP had not been getting its share under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for 10 years.He urged the federal government to release the funds totaling Rs88 billion of the PSDP 2014-15 to KP before end of the fiscal year. He feared the amount would lapse if the funds were not released before the end of the fiscal year.
