The political parties of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan decided on Friday to form a Steering Committee headed by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to oversee the implementation of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. The decision to this effect was taken by a meeting of political parties of KP and Balochistan chaired by Prime Minister to alleviate their concerns on the CPEC.
A meeting of the political parties of the two provinces was convened by Prime Minister after minister concerned Ahsan Iqbal failed to allay their concerns which led to convening of an All-Party Conferences (APC) by them, one in KP and the other in Islamabad, to convey their concerns to the Prime Minister's office.
Those who attended the meeting included Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Asfandyar Wali, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Siraj-ul-Haq, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhawa Pervez Khattak, Khanzada Khan, Ajmal Wazir and Aftab Sherpao. Prime Minister and participants of the meeting took various decisions with respect to the project and decided to form a Steering Committee which would meet once in three months to review the progress of the mega project.
The members of the Steering Committee, to be headed by Prime Minister, include Chairman Parliamentary Committee on CPEC, Minister for Planning and Development, Minister for Water & Power, Minister for Railways, Minister for Communications as well as Chief Minister, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and KP and Chief Minister, Gilgit-Baltistan.
The meeting decided that location of industrial parks would be decided in consultation with the provinces and federal government and provincial governments would be responsible for provision of allied facilities and infrastructure required for these industrial parks as per their respective roles.
Participants of the meeting agreed on working on the principle of "One Corridor, Multiple Passages", and decided that western Alignment (route) for the CPEC will be constructed on priority basis with a timeline of 2 years and 6 months from July 5 2018.The meeting also decided that if required, the existing allocation of Rs 40 billion for this alignment in current fiscal year budget would be enhanced appropriately.
They also agreed that western route for CPEC will be in the first phase a 4-lane expressway with a provision for subsequent conversion into 6-lane limited access motorway. The provincial government of KP would be responsible for early finalisation of land acquisition and federal government would provide funds for this purpose.
Participants of the meeting also decided that a cell will be created in the Ministry of Planning for co-ordination and information sharing with the provinces and all participants reaffirmed their complete support to the CPEC and agreed that the new institutional framework will be able to better accommodate the regional concerns in future
Talking to media after the meeting, Shah Mahmood Qureshi stated that their suggestion to form a committee headed by prime minister was accepted while Chief Minister KP was of the view that Orange Line train was also part of CPEC but it is not priority of his province. Siraj-ul-Haq said that all political parties want Punjab to progress but it must be not be at the cost of smaller provinces. We all have decided that no one wants to make this project disputed because this is a road map for the country's development.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said it has been decided that western route would be top priority with structure of six lines. Initially it would be constructed on four lines but would have the infrastructure to expand to six lanes with increase in transport. He said that railways line, electric transmission lines and LNG gas line as well as industrial park will be connected to the western route. He said that meeting headed by the prime minister would meet once in three months.
Ahsan Iqbal affirmed that all the political party leaders have supported and endorsed the CPEC project. Mushahid Hussain Syed of PML-Q and Afrasiab Khattak also termed the meeting as favourable for addressing the reservations over CPEC.