Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal has stressed the need for a master plan to develop Thar into a model city and asked the Sindh government and investors in the Engro Power Plant to take necessary steps to realise this goal.
Economic activity in Thar should not just be geared to earn profits, but also focus on the economic and social uplift of the area, said the minister. “We should not repeat the mistakes made in Sui,” he added.
The minister was chairing a fortnightly review meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) at the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform here the other day.
He directed to finalise the plan to switch Gwadar Power Plant from coal to LNG or oil on urgent basis to meet the energy needs of the port city. The meeting reviewed the progress on projects in energy, road infrastructure, railway and Gwadar under the CPEC framework.
Iqbal instructed to fast track the construction work on CPEC projects to ensure their completion within the stipulated time frame. He suggested to adopt a smarter and scientific approach and urged for mobilising the required financial resources promptly for the smooth execution of work on these projects.
Reviewing the energy projects under CPEC, Iqbal said that speedy work on these ventures is necessary to tackle the energy crisis and power needs of industrial zones under the scheme. He said that with the completion of energy projects in the early harvest schemes, approximately 10,000MW would be added to the national grid by 2018.
He asked the ministry of water and power to present an integrated plan for generation, transmission and distribution for the next three years within one week to ensure that the new power will be distributed to consumers in a planned manner.
He called for the induction of young Pakistani engineers in power plants to enable them to learn about the setting up and fabrication of power plants from their Chinese counterparts.
Iqbal also underlined the need to use CPEC projects to make the country a manufacturing economy, instead of a trading one for sustained economic growth.
The planning minister directed the authorities concerned to consider urban planning requirements while devising the master plan for Gwadar and also called for enforcing land-zoning laws to rationalise the prices of land in the city.