CPEC concerns

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Editorial
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5
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Just as feared?

 

Ironically, frequent signs that the government continues to be behind the curve on crucial capacity building matters regarding CPEC are no longer surprising, but they are still shocking. The latest news report about the planning ministry being clueless about the human resource assessment, for example, ought to have sounded alarm bells in Islamabad. Yet it, too, drew little save the usual “game changer” and “higher than mountains, deeper than oceans” rhetoric. Considering how things have gone so far, the confidence could imply one of two things.

One, the government has indeed, as its champions say, cooked up an ambitious plan involving sweeping bureaucratic reforms and HR expansion and is keeping it close to the chest for political mileage. Or two, it really hasn’t budged on too many prerequisites, especially long term things like HR and reforms, and charges about its obsession with energy projects alone (to bag the next election) are true. But since bureaucratic reforms were torpedoed by the babu lobby itself, it’s difficult to see what a secret plan might achieve now. Also, with both the planning ministry and CPEC project director’s office unaware about the number of breakdown of the so-called employment bonanza, the secret HR thing seems a little far-fetched too.

Granted, energy is crucial to industry, etc, and will win immediate votes, as opposed to medium to long term social overhead capital concerns. But ignoring the building blocks of the project will compromise its viability sooner than later. It has already become controversial, to say the least, and the Chinese have been unhappy for a while now. So far HR holes that Pakistan cannot plug have been handled through imported labour from China. If that continues, the employment opportunities that the government claims will not materialise. And the political cost, needless to say, would be just as great as the financial loss. That nobody in government knows how many engineers, IT experts, architects, etc, will be employed with and through CPEC is indeed startling. There seems some truth to concerns, after all, that the make or break moment might already be at hand. The government needs to appreciate these concerns and address them before it is too late.

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5 COMMENTS

  2. This is a colossal failure of Ehsan Iqbal the so-called Minister for Planning bungling muddling and messing up the whole CPEC project firstly turning it controversial and above all not having a clue about a development plan that people can understand. This minister is behaving like a traffic warden directing all traffic to Lahore and Raiwind. Fortunately the country do have experts who can handle CPEC project successfully but Pakistan's biggest problems are enemies with in and how to rid of them

    • Indeed my dear sir, far too may enemies within, of diverse hues and shades, nibbling away at the state of Pakistan like relentless turmites. What makes it even more shocking, we the people apart from meoaning and groaning, heven't a clue about being proactive, we prefer armchair atheletics instead. To add insult to injury, having wittnessed all the ills, when it comes to the election, we vote for the very same scoundrals. Our vote and the choice associated with casting that vote is the source that gives birth to all the problems we are facing. We always blame the rulers, about time we take note of our own suicidal ignorance.

      • No matter who you vote for your vote is bound to end up in the lap of luteras through dhandli dhoka and stealing. Tragedy is those that are supposed to guard and defend the "rule of law" have become partners in crime.The big question is how Pakistanis can escape from the clutches of robbers

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