Chief of the China overseas port holding company that is now running the port has informed that it has taken the locals onboard and offered more than 2,000 jobs including a majority of the senior positions to local people since its operation in Gwadar.
"I'm very happy to inform you that since the operation of the company in Gwadar, we have offered more than 2,000 jobs to the local people, and majority of the senior positions like marketing manager, finance manager, human resource manager are taken by the local people," chairman and the CEO Zhang Bao Zhong said in an interview appeared in the Chinese media here on Sunday.
"As what Xi Jinping, the president of China said that all the people shall benefit from China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), we are following exactly what our leaders request us," he added. The chairman said a state of the art school, vocational training institute, 50-bed hospital and recruitment of a considerable number of locals in ongoing development projects are the benefits being offered to around twenty-six hundred thousand people of Gwadar.
CPEC is already creating opportunities for young Pakistanis, especially the locals of Gwadar, who have remained mired in a trap of poverty and deprivation for decades, he added. The CPEC has brought new hopes for the local people in Gwadar, the deep sea port in Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan.
Mubarak, who lives in Gwadar and works for the China overseas port holding company, said that the locals are expecting too much from CPEC, too soon. He said this education institute started with 150 students now it is educating over 500 students, it was built by the Chinese government, with support from the Pakistan education department and they have also built one hospital.
Mubarak said, "CPEC is a big project, it will take time, we can't say that tomorrow we will develop everything, and so we cannot say they are not doing anything." Gwadar port, the nucleus of the multi billion-dollar project, and dubbed to becoming the hub of regional trade, is mainly a fisher folk community and the life of the people depends on their day to day catch.
For the locals, this sudden development has mounted fears, coupled with rumours that they might be relocated once trade activity begins. A leader of the Gwadar Fisherman Forum, Rasool Baksh expressed happiness that the CPEC would benefit Pakistan and hoped that the new government and people related to CPEC will fulfil their demands and ensure basic necessities of life including water and electricity for common people.
He also criticized the last government for not taking care of the local people. The analysts, however, opined that with rapid developments on the ground in Gwadar, the life of locals are turning around towards progress and prosperity with new infrastructure developments, employment opportunities and health and education facilities. Many believe that the China-Pakistan economic corridor is indeed becoming a game changer in the region.