Is CPEC also a game changer for Balochistan?

on 20/05/2017

By ABID MUSTIKHAN

A beautiful view from the Gwadar PC showing the arch of the East Bay of Gwadar to catch a photographer’s eye displays the contrast between the New Gwadar Port and the adjoining shanty town that has been there for centuries.

With my mother tongue as Balochi, I had an advantage to visit the fish harbour and speak to the fisher-folk to hear their views regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), perhaps a game changer for the country.

The fishermen did not express much hope, but rather their concern was their rehabilitation at a new location after being uprooted from their present locality as the new location may lack the necessary infrastructure to maintain their livelihood from the fishing business that they only know.

A seminar organised by the Gwadar Chamber of Commerce was quite conspicuous with the presence of the minister for port and shipping and the federal planning minister. The port and shipping minister, a senator from Balochistan, surrendered the rostrum to the planning minister who spoke on the occasion.

Since the obsession of roads and motorways persists with the president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, its party members and ministers profusely advocate the contention to toe the line of their leader. Most of the emphasis was on roads and motorways, but nothing was said about a plan or a road map of how to improve the livelihood of the population of Gwadar, or if there was any such plan in the offing.

Nonetheless, there was no mention of how Balochistan and its people would benefit from the fruits of CPEC. It was told that 35% of the funds would be earmarked for the power sector. Great, but most of the grids in Balochistan are already overloaded and even when the power is available (wishful thinking), there is no infrastructure to transmit it, how then will Balochistan benefit?

The Board of Investment of Balochistan has remained dormant since a controversial              appointment.

Lack of emphasis.
The seminar was an opportunity for the Gwadar Chamber to place before the federal minister justified demands not only for Gwadar, but also for Balochistan as a whole.
But the speeches ended with all praise and no emphasis on the important aspects that could bring a turnaround to the most dilapidated, largest and most backward province of the country.
Either out of selfishness, ignorance or incapacity or all three of these, the government of Balochistan and those at the helm of affairs lost this last opportunity from CPEC to bring in investment in the province to become a source of livelihood for its people.
Of the $46 billion funded by the Chinese government, only $7 billion is being invested in Balochistan in the following manner according to the information from the Planning Commission’s CPEC website.

  •  New Gwadar International Airport, which benefits mainly CPEC and partly Balochistan
  •  Gwadar-Turbat-Hoshab section of Gwadar-Rathodero Road (892 km), which is the need of CPEC
  •  Widening and improvement of N-85 Hoshab-Nag-Basima, Surab Road (459 km), which is the need of CPEC
  •  Water treatment, supply and distribution, which is the need of CPEC and partly locals
  •  Establishment of CPEC Support Unit for projects and activities in Gwadar Port Authority, which benefits CPEC
  •  Feasibility study for the construction of break waters, which is the need of CPEC and Gwadar Port
  •  Infrastructure development for EPZA and GIEDA, which benefits Gwadar Port
  •  Pak-China Technical and Vocational Institute at Gwadar, which benefits Balochistan
  •  Up-gradation of existing 50-bed hospital to 300 beds in Gwadar, which benefits Balochistan and locals
  •  Connecting Gwadar with Karachi by rail, which benefits only CPEC
  •  300MW coal-fired power plant at Gwadar, which gives no benefit to Balochistan that lacks infrastructure Following investment opportunities and development prospects are available in Balochistan, but these are being neglected or avoided.
  •  Mineral mapping of the province needs to be undertaken.
  •  There are seven wind corridors in Balochistan, which are at least 60% better than those of Gharo in Sindh, but none are being developed as wind farms. (Source: NASA Wind Map)
  •  Potential for solar energy throughout the northern belt of Balochistan from Taftan to Zhob. (Source: NASA Solar Map)
  •  Potential for geo-thermal energy near Naukundi. (Self-discovery)
  •  Potential for development of coastal fish wealth and support to the local fishermen within 750 km of the coastline to produce quality catch and quality fish for export.
  •  Potential for development of date farms and processing of date as syrup, etc in Makran.
  •  Potential for fruit canning and dehydrated agriculture products for the local and international markets.
  •  Mineral mining and value added upgrading of minerals for export.
  •  Roads from mines and agriculture farmlands linked with the main highways.
  •  Upgrading of existing grid stations in Balochistan. * Development and control of wildlife. * Subsidies and technical support to farmers for agriculture and livestock.
  •  And many more.Bestial bragging of the federal and provincial governments should stop forthwith. The provincial government of Balochistan should seek the help of experts from various universities of the province, who are restricted within the boundaries of their universities to hold seminars, etc, but their proposals and recommendations are dumped.
    It is surprising to note that the Chinese are more concerned than the federal or provincial governments.
    It is, therefore, an obligation of the federal government to revisit its plans and recommendations and for the Balochistan government to avail itself of this one-time opportunity from CPEC.
    Progress in Balochistan will only be seen if a major portion of CPEC funding was invested in the above projects to bring the province if not at par, but close to other provinces of the country in terms of development.
    (The writer is the former project director of Saindak Copper and Gold Project, Chagai, Balochistan)

 

Sindh wants circulation of LNG Import Policy

on 19/05/2017

y of Petroleum and Natural Resources to circulate draft policies for import of LNG as mandated under Article 158 and Article 172(3) of the constitution. In a letter addressed to Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, federal minister Mr. Shah made the demand recalling the federal government approval to import LNG without Council of Common Interest (CCI) endorsement. The letter, written shortly after the CCI meeting, reads as follows: `Reference to the deliberations in the 31st meeting of CCI on May 2, wherein all the Chief Ministers confirmed the minutes of the meeting held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Law and Justice on March 3, 2017, yourself very kindly agreed to circulate the policy. `The committee made the following decisions: It is, therefore, requested to please share respective summaries for CCI along with draft policies for import of LNG and its utilization, implementation and Article 158 and Article 172(3) of the Constitution at the earliest prior to its placement before CCI for deliberations,` the letter adds. All provincial governments asserted that the LNG import is a CCI subject and therefore import policy must be approved by the council meeting. Article 172(3) says that the concerned provincial government from where oil and gas reserves are discovered would jointly manage its control along with the federal government. Article 158 of the constitution guarantees the right of a province producing gas to meet its requirement first and then share with other province, if it is in excess. On flood protection policy, he presented a notification of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto which stated that flood protection was the job of the federal government. The federal government has prepared a flood protection plan worth Rs177 billion and asking provinces to cover it. It was agreed that the provinces and federal government would share expenditures on 50:50 basis.

Yellow Line hits Snag

on 19/05/2017

Sindh government may not be able to launch its urban transport scheme ‘Yellow Line’ in time as the Chinese partner of the government is faced with problems in arranging money for the project.  Syed Nasir Shah, Sindh Transport Minister reportedly said they could re-tender the project if the company failed to mobilize funds in next three months. “It doesn’t look possible to launch it as per schedule but we have made it clear to the company that we can only give margin of another two to three months and if they still remain unable, we would re-tender the project,” said Mr. Shah. The Sindh government was preparing to launch “Red Line” of the bus rapid transit system (BRTS) in August but issues with Yellow Line might affect it too.Yellow Line project starts from Landhi to New M.A. Jinnah road covering around 26 kilometers and is to be built with an estimated cost of Rs14.4 billion. As many as 104 new buses would be put on the route. Nasir Shah vowed that the provincial government was determined to initiate the project this year and if its Chinese partner remained unable to meet the terms of the contract, it would re-launch the project “with someone else”. The Sindh government signed the agreement with the China Urban Elected Company in September 2016 for Yellow Line. As per deal, the government would share 14 per cent of the total cost and the Chinese company 16 per cent while 70 per cent would be generated by a loan from financial institutions. Disappointments as regards Yellow Line have not affected vows for Red Line which the officials claim would be launched in July. Funded by the Asian development Bank (ADB), it starts from Malir Cantt to Regal Chowk via Safoora Goth and University Road. The 27-km-long Red Line — another BRT project — would be built with an estimated cost of $184.23 million, or roughly Rs19bn. The project cost would be shared by the ADB (52pc), DFID-UK (12.62pc) and the Sindh government (34.42pc).

 

China invites India to join OBOR Project

on 17/05/2017

China always puts Pakistan first is not true: Luo Zhaohui

China’s ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui called on India to join One-Belt-One-Road project assuring his neighbor that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would not impinge on anyone’s sovereign rights. In his attempt to lure India, he also offered to change the name of the CPEC but later the official website of the embassy deleted the sentence believably to evade embarrassment.
The text of Mr. Luo’s remarks made to an Indian think-tank on 5th May at the United Services Institute said: Some people in the West misread China and tend to think that the `Dragon` and the `Elephant` are inevitable rivals, and that China would not like to see India developing. This conception is wrong. We hope to see India develop well and we are more than happy to help India develop to achieve common development.
Both the countries needed to properly manage their differences. As two large neighbors, it is natural that we have some differences. Even family members may have problems. There was a need to set a long-term vision for China-India relations,
he said suggesting they should:
First, start negotiations on a China-India `treaty of good neighborliness and friendly cooperation`.
Then restart negotiation on China India free trade agreement.
Third, strive for an early harvest on the border issue.
Fourth, actively explore the feasibility of aligning China’s `One-Belt-One-Road Initiative` (OBOR) and India’s `Act East Policy`.
The OBOR, he says is a major public product China has offered to the world. As close neighbors, China and India could be natural partners in connectivity and the OBOR. `Now the GDP of India is roughly that of China in 2004, some 13 years ago. China leads India by 13 years, mainly because we started reform and opening up 13 years earlier,
Mr. Luo said., India still has reservations over the OBOR, saying that the CPEC passes through Azad Jammu & Kashmir, raising sovereignty concerns. ’China has no intention to get involved in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan. China supports the solution of the disputes through bilateral negotiations between the two countries. The CPEC is for promoting economic cooperation and connectivity. It has no connections to or impact on sovereignty issues, the envoy said. The perception that China was partial to Pakistan over others was erroneous. `Some Indian media say that China always puts Pakistan first when handling its relations with South Asia countries. I want to tell you this is not true. Simply said, we always put China first and we deal with problems based on their own merits. Take Kashmir issue for example, we supported the relevant UN resolutions before 1990s. Then we supported a settlement through bilateral negotiation in line with the Simla Agreement. This is an example of China taking care of India’s concern. On promoting India-Pakistan reconciliation, China hopes that both sides could live together in peace. `The development of China, India, Pakistan and the stability of the whole region call for a stable and friendly environment. Otherwise, how could we open up and develop? That’s why we say we are willing to mediate when India and Pakistan have problems. But the precondition is that both India and Pakistan accept it. We do this only out of goodwili.

Why Pakistan refuses ADB loan for Railway ?

on 09/05/2017

Pakistan has refused part financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the $8 billion Karachi-Peshawar Railway Line (ML-1) after China said it wanted to fund the project single-handedly. `China strongly argued that two sourced financing would create problems and the project would suffer, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has revealed. The minister said he would not comment whether the Ministry of Railways has resisted the Chinese request for fears of monopoly, but said the entire financing would now come from China. The project was originally planned to be partly funded by the Manila-based ADB. He said ADB would be accommodated in some other projects, such as those under the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation programme. Under the original plan, ADB had to provide $3.5bn for the 1,700-kilometre-long line considered the backbone of the country`s logistics connecting two major ports with the rest of the country for transporting goods and passengers. The minister said Chinese government therefore wanted that the project financing should be kept single-sourced. Pakistan and China are expected to sign a formal agreement in this regard next month. Iqbal said the Planning Commission was making efforts to maximise allocation of funds for the next year`s development programme as it would be the final year of the current government. Therefore, the government would like to complete maximum number of projects during this period so as to support the growth momentum. He said it was also important to have larger development portfolio for the next year because it would trigger activity in the construction industry on which a number of other growth oriented industries were dependent because of its potential to create jobs.