Every other day, I stop at the traffic light of Teen Talwar roundabout in Clifton, Karachi, and I get to read the words unity, faith and discipline. While reading the newspaper, advertisements claim: “Say no to corruption” but, unfortunately, all these things are non-existent in our society. We are honest people but still we talk about all those things that do not have any practical existence in our daily lives. Is it not about time that we stop these hypocrisies?
We are all in a rush, the nation is in a rush. Why are we in a rush? Because we are getting late and we are late because we started late and, therefore, this has become a usual practice in our daily lives. This tendency goes on and has its roots in government, especially the present Balochistan government and its parliamentarians, so busy they do not have the time to talk and discuss with their constituents. They are in a rush with just a few months left for the Chief Minister (CM) and his cabinet to be replaced with a new set of again very busy people to look after the affairs of the government of Balochistan. It would be wishful thinking to say that the next set will bring a turnaround for the most backward, disturbed and dilapidated province of the country. When successive provincial governments have not been able to change the face of the provincial capital, Quetta, which is in shambles, how can they do so for the whole province?
There is much hype about Gwadar port and the economic corridor but it is tiring to hear the rhetoric of the provincial government of Balochistan when practically there is no sign seen on the horizon for any change benefiting the people of Balochistan in the near future. Balochistan has again missed the boat due to the incompetence of its leadership and its advisors. It is criminal not to have sought investments from China for Balochistan.
A feather in Shahbaz Sharif’s cap is that he undertook fewer visits to China compared to the CM Balochistan but he managed to have most of the Chinese investment coming into Pakistan in the name of Gwadar and the economic corridor flow into Punjab. The Punjab government has done its homework well and has a direction, a plan and a strategy to successfully identify and sell its investment opportunities to China. While the Punjab CM was busy signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the Chinese, the Balochistan CM was hibernating in Balochistan House, Islamabad, waiting for a call to come inviting him to attend the ceremonies during the Chinese president’s visit but the call never came. While the Punjab CM visits India and meets his counterpart in Indian Punjab, we have yet to see the Balochistan CM visit and meet his counterpart in Zahidan, Iran, to promote border trade.
Although Gwadar is the base for Chinese investment coming into Pakistan, most of the investments have gone to Punjab due to a major slack attitude on the part of the advisors to the Balochistan government. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has assured Shahbaz Sharif of investments of billions of dollars in mining, infrastructure, the textile sector and a big industrial city in Punjab. The Commercial Bank of China will help the Punjab government acquire investment from other international sources and private companies.
Balochistan has unlimited investment opportunities. While billions of dollars from China have gone into energy projects in Punjab, Balochistan has failed to plead its case to attract Chinese investment in the energy sector for Balochistan. Balochistan has six wind corridors, while vast data is already available for the Nokundi wind corridor. The northern belt of Balochistan, from Taftan to Zhob, has the best potential for solar energy. There is potential for geo-thermal energy in the west of Koh Sultan, about 40 kilometres northwest of Nokundi, Chaghai. However, none of these opportunities have been put before the Chinese government or Chinese investors.
There is potential for investment in the mineral sector. Detailed studies have already been done on the proven Pachinko iron ore deposit showing that it carries millions of tonnes of iron ore. Since the ore contains higher sulphur content, it would make a massive project of mining and industrial project by beneficiation of iron ore as an indigenous supply to the Pakistan Steel Mills. This could also provide employment and business opportunities to the local communities. The potential for exploration of copper and gold in district Chaghai, Killa Saifullah and Zhob, the mining of manganese, chromite, barite, onyx, marble and upgrading and processing industries for such minerals is a possibility that can fetch valuable foreign exchange for the country. There are innumerable investment opportunities within the coastal belt of Balochistan. The coastal belt of Balochistan is a stretch of about 750 kilometres and has potential for shrimp farming, salt industries, tourism and seafood industries. Another important factor is that, due to corruption, the depletion of fish stock within the coastal belt of Balochistan cannot be stopped despite deliberations by various international organisations and agencies. The local fishing communities are suffering and may soon have only shellfish to catch and trade. There is potential in agriculture and livestock, and if developed in a systematic and scientific manner, this can boost potential to provide a livelihood for the local population and also benefit Chinese investors for export purposes to Middle Eastern countries, Iran and China.
These are only some of the potentials that Allah has bestowed upon Balochistan but, unfortunately, they are wasted and left unexploited due to the lack of attention of successive governments in Balochistan. While the Board of Investment in Sindh is actively working, the only fact known about the Board of Investment in Balochistan is the appointment of Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, which was a controversial move.
I hope that by reading these few lines, the Chinese government will give some thought to the premise that if the leaders of Balochistan are unable to put forward their case, the Chinese government on its own can come to the rescue by diverting a major portion of Chinese investment towards Balochistan so that its people benefit and the province progresses to stand at par with other provinces in Pakistan. This can contribute towards the elimination of insurgency in the province, contributing towards a peaceful environment conducive towards Chinese activities in the development of Gwadar port and the economic corridor passing through Balochistan.
The writer is a freelance columnist