QUETTA: Tall and exaggerated claims are being made for development of Balochistan. Some Federal Ministers are in the forefront in drum beating about development in the province. Balochistan is developing with a snail pace even its economy unable to absorb a few thousand post-graduates, graduates, graduate engineers and qualified doctors annually and they are all joining to the huge army of jobless people, particularly the educated and qualified.

While briefing the Prime Minister during his last visit to Quetta, one of the senior officials claimed that 21000 jobs were created. He failed to provide proof where such a large number of people given jobs.

Annually, a few thousand are given jobs in the Government departments and most of the jobs are generally monopolized by the Ministers and MPAs and hardly any genuine and qualified person gets a job in the Government service for the past many decades. It is a considered opinion of the people in general that the MPA fund is a political bribe, to say the least.

At the same time, tens of billions of MPA funds are going waste. The so-called development schemes failed to create required number of jobs for the people or generating revenue for the Balochistan Government since 1985 when the MPA development schemes started as a bribe to the chosen representatives to remain loyal to the Government of the day.

Balochistan is backward merely because there is no basic infrastructure available for development. In case of arteries or roads, there are two main highways and roads—the Sibi-Quetta highway and the RCD Highway. There is no third highway.

The Sibi-Quetta section of National Highway was improved—thanks to the interests shown by former Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. On the contrarily, the RCD Highway is still under construction for the past 58 years. Its Naushki-Taftan section—a 500-kilometer long section—is in complete shambles

There is no metal road available in rest of Balochistan which is almost half of Pakistan. However, the third highway is planned in the present annual budget linking Zahedan, the Capital of Iranian Balochistan, with Karachi using Yak Mach-Kharan-Basima-Khuzdar route. It will be a shorter route saving time and energy for transportation of goods between Iran and Pakistan. Even Pakistani Zaireen to Iran can use this shorter and safer route for visiting Iran.

The power transmission lines are weak, outdated and unable to take the required load of 600 MW. Balochistan needs 1600 MW while the power transmission lines are incapable to take the required load. Thus there is no chance that load shedding will end in Balochistan without upgrading the power transmission lines.

Again power transmission lines are available on Sibi-Quetta and Quetta-Khuzdar Sections. There is no power transmission line in rest of Balochistan barring the Karachi-Bela Section which is managed by the Karachi Electric.

The Government of Balochistan had paid the required money to the QESCO for building the power transmission line connecting the mineral rich region of Nokkundi. The QESCO failed to build the power transmission line to this date that irritated the former Chief Minister, Dr Malik, to express his deep anger publicly.

On the contrary, the QESCO never failed to claim cost escalation with every passing year, the former Chief Minister publicly charged and reprimanded the QESCO officials for their inefficiency.

In case of natural gas or Sui Gas facility, more than 29 districts are denied this facility deliberately. It was the senior army officers who prevailed on the former President of Pakistan, General Ziaul Haq, to provide Sui Gas facility to Quetta. From Quetta, gas was provided to two localities of Mastung and Kalat in Central Balochistan and Pishin and Ziarat in Northern Balochistan.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had obliged his camp follower Mahmood Khan Achakzai by taking the gas pipeline from Pishin to Inayat Karez, the home town of Mr. Mahmood. There is stub-burn resistance on the part of the Federal Government to deny natural gas facility to the entire Central Balochistan or extend the gas pipeline from Kalat to Khuzdar—the second largest city of Balochistan which is also centrally and strategically located. There is no question that Mekran, Kharan, Chagai three huge regions will get natural gas facility at any stage of Pakistan’s modern history. Considering the level of treatment to Balochistan and its people, it is impossible that the far flung human settlements of the province will get basic amenities and services, including power, water, gas and reasonable roads leaving aside better health and education facilities.

Hardly there is any township, excluding Hub and Vindar in Lasbela District, have the basic infrastructure for future development. Thus the CPEC is irrelevant as no township had been prepared to become its industrial and commercial base.

It is an irony of fate that the Reko Dik was about to initiate plans for going into production after getting lease, the trillions of US dollar project is closed officially by deliberately raising a dispute.

We strongly oppose to the foreign companies or multi-nationals exploiting mineral or energy resources as we favour local people should run the projects expelling all multi-nationals in a planned way.

When Saindak Project was about to go into commercial production using the local talents and manpower, then the Prime Minister of Pakistan ordered its closure and refused to finance the project. Even he disallowed the Consortium of Pakistani Bank to provide finances for known reasons. The Federal Government refused to provide the guarantee to the banks for Pakistanis operating the Saindak Copper and Gold. Now we are sharing our wealth with the Chinese company. It was Pervez Musharraf who gifted the Saindak Copper and Gold Project to the Chinese company.

At the same time, cheap electricity was available at border with Iran; Pakistan refused to use our unlimited mineral wealth in Nokkundi region. At the same time, Saindak Metals was not allowed to import furnace oil from a distance of 30 miles preferring to transport oil to more than 1000 miles from Karachi incurring huge transportation cost.   

CPEC will be successful only when Balochistan is provided with a decent infrastructure and the provincial Government establishing a dozen vocational training centres with the help of the world community. We should not depend on the Chinese only. We should seek support from other countries of the world also.