close
Thursday March 28, 2024

Keep Planning Commission out of CPEC, demand senators

By Mumtaz Alvi
January 20, 2016

ISLAMABAD: The government was asked in the Senate on Tuesday to keep the Planning Commission (PC) from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for its failure to play its role in a transparent manner.

Senators urged the prime minister to use the constitutional bodies, including parliament and the Council of Common Interests (CCI), to allay apprehensions on the multi-billion dollar project. Some senators said the all parties conferences had lost their significance, as commitments made were not met.

Opposition senators called on the prime minister to come to the Senate and take the House into confidence on the project, which had been made controversial by the government itself by issuing conflicting statements and coming up with different route maps. Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri chaired the sitting during the Question-Hour while rest of the proceedings were presided over by Senator Mohsin Leghari.

The legislators on both sides of the aisle, during the debate on a motion tabled by the opposition and treasury senators in the House on the matter, described the project as a game-changer for Pakistan and wanted its realisation by taking into confidence all the provinces.

Speaking on the occasion, PPP’s Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the distrustwith respect to the CPEC alignment and implementation was growing because of contradictory statements, lack of transparency and disregarding the constitutional bodies like the CCI and parliament, adding that the PC has failed in addressing concerns on it.

The PPP senator recounted the contradictory statements made by the PC in this regard. “The arrogant commission first started by accusing skeptics as agent provocateurs and anti-state. Then it changed track and alternated between commencing work on ‘early harvest’ projects and undertaking work simultaneously on all the three routes. At one time, it even claimed that the eastern route had been preferred by the Chinese,” he said.

He pointed out, “After the May 28 decision by all parties conference to give priority to the Western Route, we expected that this priority would be reflected in the allocations in the PSDP. However, the next month in June, the PSDP contained list of projects under the ‘Western Route’ while there was no mention of the ‘Eastern Route’ as such. This was a subterfuge to give the false impression that the government wanted to build only the western Route as decided in May 28 APC.”

However, he noted a close scrutiny of the document revealed that the projects under the Eastern Route even though not named as such had been allocated over Rs84 billion as against only Rs20 billion for the road projects under the Western Route.

“Then came the drama of inaugurating the so-called Western Route in Zhob which actually was an old road project of the 1990s,” he said. Senator Babar held the PC responsible for this atmosphere of distrust that now has risked the January 15 announcement by the prime minister.

The way forward was to keep the PC from the project at least temporarily and entrust the task to some figures in the government, who had demonstrated some credibility and willingness to take along all stakeholders, including Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq and Iqbal Zafar Jhagra of PML-N. He also proposed link roads connecting the Peshawar-DI Khan National Highway with tribal areas on the one hand and the Western Route on the other to integrate the KP in the project. Babar also called for taking into account the reservations and requirements of the people of Gilgit Baltistan, which he said had been totally ignored thus far.

“It is like once in a lifetime opportunity. We must cash in on it. But unfortunately, the process on the CPEC has been unfortunately devoid of consultations. As a result among other issues, the heartland of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been bypassed vis-a-vis the Western Route,” claimed PPP’s Osman Saifullah Khan, opening the debate.

He pointed out that the existing road infrastructure connected 18 districts out of total 25 districts of the province and wondered how these could be kept out of the Western Route. “This if done, will condemn these districts to perpetual backwardness,” he feared.

The senator urged the PTI and JUI-Fazl senators to raise their voice for the rights of the province. “It is our demand that the prime minister should come to the House and allay the apprehensions of senators. This will yield positive results,” said MQM’s Maulana Tanveerul Haq Thanvi.

Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Senators Usman Kakar and Sardar Azam Musakhail said that the APCs had lost their credibility as decisions were not being implemented. They said there was just one Western Route, which was the original one in benefit of Khyber Pakhthunkhwa and Balochistan and other provinces.

Taj Haider of the PPP proposed inclusion of the rail track in the CPEC’s Western Route, which would be economical and also environment-friendly and play a key role in transport of coal energy projects.  He welcomed the decisions made at the APC held on January 15 and called for their implementation to restore the trust of stake-holders. 

“We wish the prime minister takes the project into his own hands and directly monitors it. Apprehensions crept in the minds when a Zhob road was opened, and it was shown to being part of the Western Route,” said the PML-Q’s Saeedul Hasan Mandokhail.

Hafiz Hamdullah of the JUI-F called for building of the Western Route, as per the actual plan, saying the United States was opposed to the CPEC, as it wanted India’s hegemony in the region.

Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldeni of the Balochistan National Party said the formation of a monitoring committee was a good decision. He proposed that Balochistan should be the owner of Gwadar Port and its demography must not be changed. 

MQM’s Muhammad Ali Saif said the biggest confusion generated with regard to the CPEC was fund arrangements, which must be looked into. He proposed documentation of the entire project to put at rest doubts and concerns of some provinces.  PML-N’s Ayesha Raza and Nihal Hashmi called for a cool-headed approach to the project and insisted everybody should have trust in the leadership.

Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq welcomed the suggestions and said these would be conveyed to the prime minister. He noted the policy of transparency was the hallmark of the project. He noted maps of highways network, roads etc had been put on the website of the ministry.

He said the prime minister had made it clear from the very beginning that the Western Route would be made and made operational first. He urged Senator Osman Saifullah to share in writing his concerns about the Western Route.