ISLAMABAD: A legislative body of Parliament on Monday recommended that the Motorway Police should be properly equipped to meet the requirements of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “CPEC is a game-changer for Pakistan. It will bring prosperity to the country after its full implementation,” lawmakers said during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Communications. The meeting was presided over by Muhammad Muzamil Qureshi. The committee was informed that the Western Route of the CPEC had been divided into five zones. “Work has started on all five zones. The Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), the National Logistic Cell (NLC) and some other contractors have started working on site. The Western Route will be completed by June-2018,” the meeting was informed. The committee expressed reservations over the Western Route, stating that some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan had been ignored. However, the officials assured them that no change had been made to the Western Route and it would be completed on a priority basis. The committee was shown images of onsite progress of the construction work that had been taken with the help of drones. The committee was briefed that more than 10,000 more personnel would be was needed to meet the requirements of all newly built highways and motorways. The committee directed that the creation of the required posts and appointment against vacancies on merit should be completed by December 2017. The committee was informed that the prime minister had earlier announced 20% of basic pay as special pay to the employees of Motorway Police. However, only 10% of the amount was being paid. The committee took very serious notice of the issue and termed it objectionable. “The announcement had been made by the PM to benefit employees of a department. However, the bureaucracy is creating hurdles in the implementation of the decision,” the committee observed. The committee directed the officials to take steps to pay the remaining 10% allowance to the employees of National Highways and Motorway Police forthwith. The committee was also informed that the special allowance being paid to the employees of the National Highways and Motorway Police was equal to their basic pay. “However, the allowance has been frozen on the level of 2008, instead of being equal to the current basic pay of the employees,” the officials said. The committee directed that the special pay allowance should be given according to the current basic pay. The meeting was attended by MNAs Hamidul Haq Khalil, Usman Khan Tarrakai, Salim Rehman, Sahibzada Tariq Ullah, Nazir Ahmed Bughio, Maulana Qamarud Din, Dr Darshan, Ramesh Lal, Sanjay Perwani, Maiza Hameed, Shahid Tarar, the communications secretary and several officials of the Motorway Police. NAB Headquarters: National Accountability of Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry on Monday chaired a meeting to review the progress and quality of the ongoing work on the building of the NAB Headquarters. During the briefing, the meeting was informed that the pace of work had been speeded up in the light of the directions of the NAB chairman. “The fixing of granite, exterior glass and floor tiles are under process. The pace of work on external development along with internal finishes like false ceiling, PVC, paneling etc, has also been increased. The machinery including generators, lifts, HVAC system has been arranged and work is under process at the site,” the meeting was informed. The NAB chairman expressed concern over the unnecessary delay in the completion of the project and emphasised the need for making efforts for completion of the work. He further observed that the work was behind schedule. Published in Daily Times, June 20th, 2017.