Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Shah, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressing reservations on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.
Khursheed Shah said in the letter that the $46 billion CPEC project is a vital development opportunity for Pakistan and all parties agree on its vitality in strengthening our bilateral ties and economic cooperation with China, But the way the project is being executed has raised fears among stakeholders.
“This is evident from the initiatives taken under the project so far. Preference is given to construction of eastern route for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) rather than the short and better western route, which may create resentment in other provinces against Punjab,” read the letter.
The letter further said that “Under Lahore-Karachi motorway initiative, Lahore-Abdul Hakim section of motorway is being constructed on priority basis despite of the fact that this section already has a network of well-developed roads on both sides, i.e. NH-5 on left side and M-2 & M-3 on right side. Lahore-Karachi motorway will not give the desired results if attention is not paid to the these issues,”.
Shah asked the premier to adhere to the decisions reached at All Parties Conference (APC) on CPEC held in May this year, claiming that the government is violating decisions taken in the conference on CPEC during the execution of project.
The letter maintains that Sindh and smaller provinces are being ignored in the construction of development projects as new power plants are being constructed majorly in Punjab while the small provinces, particularly Sindh, is being deliberately ignored despite of the fact that the province generates 60 per cent of country’s revenue and holds largest natural gas reservoirs.
“Construction of coal power project in Sahiwal is also a major concern as coal based power plants are usually constructed on sea sites or coal rich area while Sahiwal does not meet these requirements. It is instead an agricultural area and construction plant there will be dangerous in many ways, for example; a) adversely affect the soil fertility b) increase in electricity generation cost, c) massive rise in pollution especially in nearby residential areas.” read the letter.
He demanded that the government should revisit its policies and priorities regarding execution of the CPEC and other development projects ‘in order to keep the federation intact’.
Shah added that the objective can only be achieved by taking all the federating units into confidence and ratifying their reservations.
