- Minister says Rs 10b allocated for technical study, land acquisition, and construction of missing links
The Upper House of the Parliament was informed on Friday that the government is giving priority to the construction of the western route of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
During question hour, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad told the Senate that serious steps have been taken for development of missing links in the western route of the project.
As many as Rs 10 billion have been allocated in the annual Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for technical study, land acquisition and construction of missing link from Islamabad to DI Khan, he said.
The feasibility of the project has been started and is expected to be completed by October this year. As many as Rs 5 billion have been allocated for rehabilitation of DI Khan-Mughal Kot section and Mughlakot-Zhob section of N-50 damaged during 2010 floods.
Moreover, the minister said the process for hiring consultants has been initiated to conduct the feasibility study for dualisation of link from Sohrab to Chaman while the bidding process has also been initiated for East Bay Express in Gwadar.
Shaikh Aftab told the House that the country’s foreign exchange reserves currently stand at Rs 18.8 billion due to government’s successful economic policy. He said the government is taking measures to curtail its fiscal deficit by curtailing expenditure and generating additional revenues.
The minister said the government is expecting to receive additional assistance from multilateral and bilateral sources and has also planned to access international market for the issuance of bonds and privatisation of public sector entities.
It has been a tradition in Pakistani politics to criticize the projects started by the rival parties. Sometimes the criticism is justified but sometimes it is just the criticism for the sake of criticism. Kala Bagh Dam, hydro power projects and many others had been the topic of criticism by many. Recently the long talked China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project also caused much criticism by some political factions.
The route for the project had two branches going through all the provinces of the country. During the Chinese President’s visit to Pakistan, the eastern route was talked about more than the western one which goes through Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). For some time, social media kept ringing with criticism of the government as it was thought that government had changed the initial route.
Most of our politicians are sold in hands of ISRAEL USA AND INDIA and are funded by them to obstruct any progress work in pakistan PTI is not different then MQM in any way
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