- KP CM asks federal govt to ensure equal share for all provinces
In an indirect reference to the Centre, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak said on Saturday that “big brother eats up everything and does not give anything to others (provinces)”.
Addressing a convention on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Peshawar, Khattak warned “the elder brother” to mend “his ways and change his philosophy”, saying, “We will not beg to anyone and know how to get our rights.”
The CPEC involves energy and infrastructure projects, linking the neighbours’ economies and creating an “economic corridor” between Pakistan‘s Gwadar Port and China‘s western Xinjiang region. The corridor comprises of a network of roads, railways and pipelines.
Complaining that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was getting only two per cent out of its 13 per cent rightful share, Khattak asked the federal government to ensure equal share for all the provinces.
He said the PML-N government just wanted to build a road and not the corridor with all facilities, adding, “If just a road is what we get under CPEC, they can do it for themselves; we won’t let it pass here.”
He further said that his government had supported western route as it was 600-kilometre shorter and there were underdeveloped areas in that region. “We will also support Balochistan as the under-developed areas are ignored along the route and just a standard road built,” he added.
Khattak also accused the Center of stealing 600-MW of electricity out of their rightful share on a daily basis.
