Daily Times

Senate Special Committee on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on Friday took notice of the cloudiness surrounding CPEC related projects.

The committee, chaired by Senator Sherry Rehman, directed the Ministry of Planning, Development & Reforms to give concrete information on CPEC projects with groundwork, progress and timelines from the next meeting onwards instead of providing open source information.

“Why is the committee not being apprised about the details of the projects? We come across more information in the newspapers compared to what’s imparted to us during the committee meetings. It is the Ministry’s responsibility to address the queries of committee members as they have serious reservations that need to be heard and responded to,” the former senate opposition leader said as the committee was briefed regarding CPEC projects.

Members from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan especially, were unanimous in protesting the lack of groundwork in their respective provinces including Gwadar, which is supposed to be the centrepiece of the CPEC maritime Silk Road linkage.

The committee was further briefed on the 8th JCC held in Beijing in December 2018 and members sought details into the current situation of various projects under CPEC as well as about further negotiations with the Chinese government. Rehman expressed reservations as neither the timeline nor the terms and conditions of the CPEC projects were furnished by the government. Saying that nothing can be kept hidden from a parliamentary committee, the Chair of the CPEC Committee in Senate said “We are leading delegations into China and China is asking questions. It is asking about the progress being made on the CPEC projects and here we are, kept in the dark by our government”.

The Committee was told that during the 8th Joint Coordination Committee, a Memorandum of Understanding on industrial cooperation was signed and Pakistan has succeeded in securing a separate $1 billion grant for socio-economic development which will come in three years and will be spent in less developed areas of the country. The committee was told that the project of M-1 will be implemented in phases and that finalisation of preliminary design was in its final stage. It was told that the desalination plants in Gwadar are now a part of the socio-economic development projects. Component of agricultural investment has also been added in CPEC projects which will include co-branding, value chain food processing, fisheries and livestock.

The senator expressed concern regarding gaps in communication. She said a general understanding among Pakistani people, especially regarding Special Economic Zones is that China would singlehandedly make CPEC work.

She suggested, “It would be better if Pakistan did at least half the work here and took road shows to China to attract investors. We need the jobs and growth generated by this opportunity. Our inability to coordinate responses and streamline frameworks or build consensus should not stand in the way of momentum.”

Published in Daily Times, March 16^th 2019.