The Balochistan Assembly on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution, urging the federal government to constitute a commission to settle what it described as the “injudicious distribution of projects and funds under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)”.
Former Balochistan chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani tabled the resolution submitted by Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) lawmaker Sanaullah Baloch. The provincial house unanimously adopted the resolution backed by legislators from both treasury and opposition benches demanding an equal share for the province.
“Balochistan’s current share under CPEC is only 4.5 percent,” Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal said while commenting on the resolution. If we don’t include Gwadar Port and HUBCO projects, then “Balochistan’s share in CPEC is reduced to a meagre one percent”, Jam Kamal complained.
While talking about the feasibility of the resolution, Baloch said the “western route has been completely ignored and all projects have been diverted towards the eastern route”.
“Balochistan has been ignored in the $62 billion project in terms of development schemes and allocation of funds,” read the resolution. Despite having a wide coastal belt and plenty of mineral resources, Balochistan has repeatedly been denied its due share, the BNP-M lawmaker said.
Chief Minister Jam Kamal further complained that during the last five years the province was ignored by Islamabad and that only Rs 300 billion out of the Rs 5,000 billion were spent in Balochistan.
On the other hand, Raisani raised complaints about the transparency of the project and demanded that the provincial assembly should be taken into confidence regarding the CPEC-related agreements.
Earlier this month, ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) founder Saeed Ahmed Hashmi had said that Federal Minister for Planning Khusro Bakhtiar has confirmed that the western route was not part of the CPEC.
“The apprehensions of the people and political forces of Balochistan have proved to be true after the federal minister’s statement,” Hashmi had said, adding that if the planning minister’s statement was true then it would be a big injustice with the people of Balochistan.
During a meeting of the Balochistan cabinet in December, the members were reportedly left shocked at the end of a briefing on the progress of CPEC projects in the province when it was revealed that no progress had been made in any projects outside Gwadar and a meagre share of the province was revealed in the overall portfolio of CPEC projects.
The briefing was provided by the CPEC Cell that the Balochistan government had recently established with help from the World Bank.
In April, former Balochistan chief minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo had said that his province was being neglected by the federal government in the CPEC project. “More than Rs 5,000 billion is being spent on the CPEC, but Balochistan is not receiving even one per cent of it,” he had said.
Published in Daily Times, December 22nd 2018.
