Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is said to have unearthed a federal government's alleged plan aimed at depriving the province of its due rights in the context of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The KPK Chief Minister, Pervez Khattak, therefore, decided to stage a widespread protest against what he called the deceitful act on the part of federal government and announced that every relevant forum would be approached by him to protect the rights of the province till achieving the goal.
He added that all parliamentary parties of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly would be taken on board for this "unprecedented" protest campaign. He warned that KP government would withdraw its cooperation to CPEC projects until its reservations are not removed. He said the support withdrawal actions by KP government might also include stoppage of the land acquisition process for the KP portion of the project.
The decision was taken at a meeting held at the CM Secretariat here Wednesday with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak in the chair. Among others, the meeting was attended by the Speaker KP Assembly, Asad Qaiser , Minister for Mineral Development, Aneesa Zeb Tahirkheli, the Additional Chief Secretary Dr Hamad Awais Agha, Chairman of the Strategic Planning Unit of the CM Secretariat Sahibzada Muhammad Saeed, leader of KP Ulasi Tehrik Dr Said Alam Mahsood and Tariq Afghan Advocate and others.
It was "disclosed" by Dr Said Alam Mehsud that federal government had allocated a share of only 1.4% for KP province contrary to the Punjab that will be getting 80.4% of the total budget allocation of Rs 359 billion for the years 2015-17 and the said KP share would be spent on only hydro power project of Suki Kinari in district Mansehra.
The meeting was informed that the six key components of CPEC had also been skewed in favour of the Punjab province and the Dera Ismail Khan-Mianwali-Burhan link of the western route was also missing in the latest map of CPEC route which was kept secret by the federal government. It was also found that Mianwali was being linked with Islamabad through another planned road at a cost of Rs 10 billion under Public Sector Development Programme.
Dr Mehsud "referred" to the Planning Commission of Pakistan's documents and "sources" and told that total cost of CPEC had been calculated at "145 billion US dollars" which would be extended to government of Pakistan in shape of loan while the promised "500 billion USD" Chinese investment would be made only at the start and end points of corridor and that too not before the year 2024.
It was also "discovered" that Rs 95 billion (51.35%) of the total Rs 185 billion budget earmarked for the current year for the motorway project of the corridor would be spent on the Eastern Route while the remaining 48.65% budget will be utilised for connecting Lahore with Gwadar and Karakuram Highway. With reference to the monographic study of the roads and their facts reflected in the maps and other documents of the federal government revealed that metro bus and underground fast track Railways Project had also been incorporated into the CPEC which will link Rawalpindi to Karachi through Gujranwala, Lahore, Multan and Faisal Abad, thus totally excluding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan.
Commenting on the alleged designs of the federal government in connection with CPEC, the Chief Minister said the federal government's "betrayal" has caused a huge shock to the KP government as well as people of the province.
Khattak recalled that a national consensus was evolved when KP government had raised its voice against the usurpation of the province's rights in respect of CPEC and it was assured publically by the federal government that all provinces will get equal share in CPEC projects and not only will the western route be included in the project, it will also be built on a priority basis.
He regretted that nothing of sort had been found in the Planning Commission's documents as well as the federal budgetary allocations. He said that the federal government was hiding everything regarding CPEC and keeping the smaller provinces, including KP, in dark.
He said all parliamentary parties of KP Assembly will be taken into confidence for the launch of a joint protest campaign reneging on commitments made on 28th May last on the CPEC. As a first step, he added the ongoing process of acquisition of land for the corridor would be stopped by KP government. However, he said that a final decision in this regard will be taken after consultation with the parliamentary parties. He said that KP's money will not be allowed to be spent on unjustified benefits of the biggest province of Pakistan. Describing the legal and constitutional aspects of the CPEC, he was of the view that the federal government was not authorised to take such steps without consulting the federating units.
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