The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has asked the federal government for “clarity” on reservations it has expressed over development of the western route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
In a letter addressed to Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has asked the minister to remove “ambiguities” that he said remained in a letter Iqbal sent to the CM to express commitment regarding the project.
CM Khattak has requested the federal government to “commit with more clarity” it will provide amenities such as electricity, telephone lines, fiber optics, gas pipeline, LNG supply, railway line and “all other relevant services” to the industrial parks scheduled to be built along the western route of CPEC.
Railways, motorways:
CM Khattak pointed out in the letter that the federal government has made no commitment regarding the inclusion in the western route of two railway lines i.e. circular railway track Peshawar-Charsadda-Peshawar and western railway track D.I. Khan-Peshawar and two motorways i.e. D.I Khan-Peshawar and Karak to Taxila via Kohat-Jund.
The federal government should commit to placing a representative of the KP government in the CPEC directorate in Islamabad on a full time basis, who will also have access to other committees on the project, CM Khattak maintained.
Funding details:
The chief minister asked the federal government to communicate “as soon as possible” the details of funds allocation and the source of funding for the project.
Addressing KP’s reservations on a priority basis, the chief minister said, would remove “trust deficit between the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federal Government”.
Officials from the KP government have on several occasions in the past lambasted the federal government over reservations that their province is not being provided its due share under the $46 billion CPEC.
Chief Minister Khattak warned earlier this year his government would take “an extreme step” if the centre failed to address their reservations regarding the project.
