Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has dismissed the call for establishment of a separate authority to look after the affairs of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and said that civil institutions are fully capable of running the multi-billion dollar project.

“I do not know who is behind this demand, as we did not receive anything in writing from any military institution. A separate authority will not work; it will create bureaucratic hurdles,” Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal told a group of journalists on Monday evening.

“Pakistan is facing crises and we need harmony between the civil and military leadership. Some elements do not want to see Pakistan make progress; therefore, they are trying hard to make the CPEC a controversial project,” the minister said.
He said the Planning Ministry was just playing the role of a coordinator among various departments and ministries because at least 14 ministries were involved in the CPEC project. He said there was a coordination committee on the CPEC that was meeting every fortnight and a representative of the Pakistan Army was also attending the meeting. “In my view, there is no need to set up a CPEC authority,” he said.

Iqbal said that China was investing $ 46 billion in Pakistan through the CPEC and work had been started on different projects in energy and infrastructure sectors and projects related to Gwadar Port. He said that firms not completing CPEC infrastructure projects on time would be penalised. In this situation, he said, there was no need for any further supervision of the project. “I wonder that if we will establish an authority, what will be its role. We are working closely with the Chinese government to take the CPEC forward. If we will centralise the CPEC, it will not be suitable at all,” the minister said. He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government would fulfill its promise and add 10,000 megawatts of electricity to the national grid by 2018. He said that work was under way on several short, medium and long-term power projects.

About the Kalabagh Dam, he said it was technically attractive and suitable, but politically it was not feasible because three provinces were against it. “We do not want to harm the federation at this moment,” the minister said.