Baba Faiz
The Gwadar city is expected to soon emerge as the economic hub of Pakistan; largely due to a greater inflow of foreign investment in namely the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
It is estimated that foreign exchange outflows on account of CPEC would be around $3.5 billion. According to the official projection, a total amount of 8,910 megawatts of electricity is to be added under the CPEC project till 2022. Of these 6,240 MW will be coal-fired out of which 2,640 MW is expected to be reliant on indigenous coal.
Besides this, according to the estimates from the ministry of water and power, as well as the planning commission, up to 3,000 MW could potentially be switched from power plants using RFO to the newer, coal-fired plants. The overall impact of CPEC projects on the balance of payments is expected to be an additional $2.2 billion per annum and the impact on overall outflows is not significantly higher, which rise by an additional estimated $200-300m.
It is worth mentioning that CPEC would not merely profit its accomplishing areas rather also the outside world. The western route of CPEC would facilitate the residents of under-developed areas of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan.
In addition, CPEC should also help give Pakistanis a greater access to fundamental amenities, which include clean drinking water, power supply, opportunities for new jobs, centers for skilled persons, construction of new hospitals, technical colleges, schools and universities.
Most importantly, people of Gwadar should be provided free medical facilities, technical training in foreign countries and scholarships in reputed educational institutions in other provinces in order to overcome Gwadar’s backwardness and it’s residents should be given free education and health facilities and the confiscation of thousands of canals of local people’s while the ancestral land was unjust and these should be returned to their real owners.
There should be a legislation to ensure partnership of local people in investment projects in Gwadar and locals should be indulged into security forces to protect their rights and self-respect.
Another important development had been decided by the Chief Minister Sanaullah Zehri to lay a railway track to connect Gwadar with Iranian port city of Chahbar. The governor of the Iranian province of Sistan Balochistan, Aaqa Hosth Hashmi, reached the agreement on Jan 11, 2016 in Gwadar official from both sides discussed security, drug trafficking, illegal border crossing etc and also decided to take up plans for border trade, a new shipping service and flights from Gwadar to Iranian cities.
It is my plea to the federal and provincial government to take concrete and prompt measures for the provision of these amenities in order to ensure the triumph of CPEC project.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and Balochistan Voices not necessarily agrees with them.
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