Govt asked to remove reservations about CPEC

ABBOTTABAD: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday said that if the reservations of the smaller provinces about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project were not addressed the issue would be taken to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The Tehrik Suba Hazara had organised the seminar at the Abbottabad Press Club.

Haider Zaman, Fanoos Gujjar, Dr Said Alam Mahsud, Shahab Khattak, Faiz Alam, Sardar Fida Hussain, Nighat Semab, Malik Sajjad and others addressed the moot.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Said Alam Mahsud said that CPEC would benefit a few individuals instead of changing the fate of the country as claimed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led federal government.

He said that all the details about the mega project had been kept secret. He added that development authorities were established for undertaking even smaller projects, but the federal government didn’t bother to do so for carrying out such a mega project.

Dr Said Alam further said that most of the projects were supposed to be carried out in Punjab under CPEC while Gilgit-Baltistan and Hazara division would have only one road, which was sheer injustice.

He said that no major funds had been earmarked for the development of Gwadar. He said that the people from the underdeveloped areas in Pakistan always rendered sacrifices for the country, but they were not compensated for their losses appropriately.

“We will move the International Court of Justice if our reservations were not addressed by allocating sufficient funds for undertaking uplift projects under CPEC,” he maintained.

He alleged that the rulers kept the details of the project secret in order to provide all the benefits to the capitalists.