The Senate sub-committee on finance has asked the finance ministry to allocate separate funds for security of ongoing development projects in Balochistan after the National Highway Authority (NHA) said it was unable to complete the development projects due to security problem.
The sub-committee led by Senator Fateh Muhammad Hassani invited Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission on Monday for taking a decision regarding allocation of funds for security purposes for early completion of the ongoing projects.
The members of the committee stated that the security is a problem in the province and Gwadar Port could not be made fully operational unless road and train links are developed to connect it with the rest of the country. The NHA chairman informed the committee that the FC has demanded Rs 1 billion for a period of one year to provide security for construction of Khuzadar-Ratodero Road. The chairman said that security arrangements could be made by providing funds to Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps, Rangers and provincial police.
Senator Fateh Muhammad proposed that during the preparation of the projects a separate allocation for security arrangements should be made because security has become vital component of the projects. About the issue of annual road maintenance, Director Roads Ministry of Communication informed that sufficient funds are allocated every year for maintenance purposes which included Rs 30 billion by NHA from its own resources apart from Rs 50 billion allocation in PSDP for NHA for completion of the projects.
The NHA officials informed the committee that National Assembly Standing Committee has opposed provision of funds to NHA on account of security for development projects in Balochistan, arguing that it would lead to a wrong precedent and similar demands would come from other parts of the country.
Some members also expressed concern that the transportation of overloaded Nato containers against the capacity of road is destroying the transport infrastructure in Balochistan. A member said the Afghan marbles and Nato trucks are major cause of all the destruction of roads in the province. The committee was unanimous on a strategy to strictly implement the load capacity for which the road has been designed as containers with excessive load were damaging roads in Balochistan.