For the past six years, the National Highway Authority and the Frontier Works Organization had virtually stopped constructing highways in all directions. In most of the cases, the NHA had failed to make payment to the contractors forcing them to close the work and shift their machinery, people and engineers to other places where they got contract. Those Highways include the main roads linking Gwadar Port with rest of the country, the Khuzdar Rato-Dero Section, the RCD Highway from Bela to Zahedan, Gwadar-Quetta section via Central Balochistan. It is more important to link Gwadar Port with Afghanistan first so that transit trade between the two neighbour is diverted from Karachi-Torkham Highway, a longer route, Gwadar-Zahedan highway or railroad link to connect Gwadar Port with rest of the Western world. It is strange that the NHA had diverted the funds from Gwadar-Hoshap Section to somewhere in Central or Southern Punjab at the behest of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan. The amount of money was said to be over Rs five billions. The work had been stopped since then. A senior official who paid a visit to Gwadar on the request from the provincial Government promised to release the needed Rs five billion for the Gwadar link roads during the current fiscal year. Let us hope that funds are released immediately so that the work should start again without any further delay. First phase of Gwadar Port had been completed by the Chinese six month ahead of schedule in 2006 and the NHA had failed to complete the roads and highways linking the Port with rest of the world. The Provincial Government had been using necessary pressure on the Federal Government the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues had several meetings with the President and the former Prime Minister requesting them to expedite the construction of highway so that Gwadar Port is used in serving the landlocked countries in our surroundings, including Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics of Soviet era. All those efforts gone waste and the NHA and the Planning Commission failed to implement the projects prepared more than a decade ago. In all, the Federal Government or the NHA was supposed to spend around Rs 37 billions on major highways in Balochistan over a period of time. It is shocking that the NHA or the Federal Government had spent mere Rs 7 billion over a period of time. The plans were prepared and approved and the Government failed to release the funds for the projects as there is no one in the Planning Commission, the Finance Minister or for that matter in the entire Central Government to release the promised funds of Balochistan projects. It was one of the major reasons that the Baloch people are demanding complete autonomy and minimum powers to the Federal Government necessary to defend the national frontiers only.
Gwadar Port will be effective only when the entire project is complete and it will start earning money by facilitating transit trade for the land locked countries of Central Asia, including Afghanistan. By merely handling TCP cargo, Gwadar Port will not be developed. Since Pakistan Government is feeling the severe financial crunch in the recent years, it will be better to hand over the Gwadar Port to the Balochistan Government permitting the provincial authorities to seek finances from world over for early construction and completion of the entire Gwadar Port project. International market forces need the services of Gwadar Port, a strategic port vital for trade with landlocked countries, and they will be ready to finance it if it is handed over to the Balochistan Government, independent economists believed. Pakistan Government is totally isolated in the present day world due to its policies and no country is ready to help Pakistan. Even the US had slashed its military assistance by 650 million US dollars in a single go indicating the level of relations between Pakistan and rest of the world. Presumably, the Balochistan Government will be in a better position and having a better goodwill the world over in seeking funds for development and completion of the entire Gwadar Port with its railroad links in all directions.
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