Comparing corridors

This refers to the article, ‘Looking at history for the future of the CPEC’ (June 27) by Arshad H Abbasi. The writer has compared the Indus Basin Project of the 1960s and the CPEC. However, his conclusion – that without a strong leadership the fate of the project will not be different from the annual PSDP – raises questions. No amount of leadership will be able to get anything out of a badly conceived project. The Indus Basin Project was well designed, specific and object oriented. It was, therefore, implemented like clockwork. On the other hand, the CPEC is surrounded in confusion. Nobody knew what it actually stood for till the visit of the Chinese president in April 2015 when a number of MoUs of specific roads and energy projects were signed. This gave rise to a controversy over the location of the route.
To pacify objecting parties, it was decided that the corridor will have a western route, an eastern route and a central route. This makes the corridor a multiplicity of parallel roads while the desired project of the PM, namely the Karachi-Lahore motorway, is already in the implementation phase. It will do no good to our economy and would be a waste of resources. Though infrastructure is necessary for economic development, it is not sufficient. What is needed is changes in our own priorities so that the need for foreign help does not arise.
Abdul Majeed
Islamabad