COMPLETING HIGHWAYS IN BALOCHISTAN

The Prime Minister had once again directed the National Highway Authority to complete all the on-going highway projects in Balochistan lessening the financial burden on the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) as most of the projects are in hand for the past one decade or more. For unknown reasons, the establishment refused to give priority to the building of a decent infrastructure, mainly building the highways, in Balochistan giving a boost to economic development. The Gwadar Deep Water Port had been rendered useless for the past seven years as the Government failed to construct its basic infrastructure and link the deep water port with rest of Pakistan and the landlocked Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan. To this date, there is no development in building the roads, highways and bridges linking Gwadar Port with the Central Asian countries, nor its basic infrastructure are developed granting complete monopoly to Iran to handle the transit trade between the Central Asian countries and rest of the world. Iran is presently earning more than 10 billion US dollar a year from transit trade facilities to the landlocked countries. Earlier, the Iranian earnings from the transit trade were confined to a few billion dollars as Tehran used Bandar Abbas to transport the transit goods to Central Asia. Now Iran is planning to expand and use Chah Bahar Port in Iranian Balochistan for transit trade with Afghanistan and other Central Asian Countries to outmatch the importance of Gwadar where real estate Mafia is dominating the undeveloped economy of the Baloch coast. Pakistan needs the second port more for developing its trade and commerce with rest of the world as Gwadar is located at the mouth of Central Asia, South Asia and West Asia—an advantage no other Pakistani port enjoyed. There should be road link between Balochistan and rest of the three provinces developing communication and strengthening national unity with the frequent movement of people of different provinces. It is also needed to develop the national economy in Upper Sindh, Southern Punjab, parts of KPK and northern Pakistan by boosting internal trade and developing local markets generating employment for the people of Pakistan. The National Highway Authority was a complete disappointment for the people of Balochistan as it had not completed a single important project to this date barring the Coastal Highway that was washed away extensively in two deadly cyclones and torrential rains that lashed Baloch coast in the recent past. The NHA or the National Economic Council approved several schemes costing over Rs 37 billion during the past six or seven years. The NHA had spent merely Rs seven billions on those schemes and works on all other schemes stopped taking the pretext of law and order. When law and order was stable and people were demanding development why the NHA had completed the project during the peace time? Now the situation in Balochistan had taken an ugly turn and it is not very easy for the Government and people stabilizing the law and order situation in foreseeable future. We welcome the good gesture of the Prime Minister taking interest in speedy development of Balochistan by asking the NHA to complete all its projects in the Province. The top priority should be given to the highways connecting Gwadar Port with rest of the country, mainly Punjab and KPK through the Indus Highway giving a boost to the local economies of these regions. Equally important is the completion of the Highway connecting Karachi with Zahedan, Capital of Iranian Balochistan. It passes through the main heartland of Balochistan and it is also considered as the economic artery of the Provincial economy. The NHA should complete the damaged portion of the RCD Highway between Khad Kocha and Lak Pass which is under construction for the past six years. The NHA failed to pay to the contractors involved in building that portion of RCD Highway. If the NHA makes the payment to the contractors, it will be easy for them to complete the reconstruction work in Central Balochistan.