Govt urged to stick to original CPEC route

ISLAMABAD: The elders and elected parliamentarians of southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have asked the government to actualise the original route of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Speaking at a gathering here, they said the original route goes through Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Karak, Kohat and then to Hassanabdal through Attock bridge, with full facilities like six-line road, railway lines, optic fibre line and LNG.

PML-N’s provincial general secretary Rehmat Salam Khattak had convened the meeting at a hotel here, which was attended by elders and political leaders from Kohat, Hangu, Karak, Bannu and Lakki Marwat. It was demanded that the very initial route of CPEC should be actualised with all facilities. It was also decided that a committee would negotiate with all stakeholders including provincial, federal government and army chief.

The committee members are Afrasiyab Khattak, Salim Saifullah Khan, MNA Col Amirullah Marwat, MNA Shehryar Afridi, provincial ministers Malik Qasim Khan, Shah Mohammad Wazir, MPA Zarin Zia Marwat, MPA Malik Riaz, Rehmat Salam Khattak and Abbas Afridi.

The committee will take onboard provincial government and political leaders including  Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Ameer Haider Hoti, Aftab Sherpao and ask the federal government to give due share to the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in CPEC.

The committee members would also call on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Army Chief Raheel Sharif and Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal and pursue the case of southern districts.

It was also decided in the meeting that they would take every step to compel the government to ensure that the corridor goes through the mentioned districts, which was the initial route decided with Chinese authorities. 

The leaders demanded that Indus Highway be developed as six-pronged motorway, which is the shortest route.

They said that they would launch protest campaign and all the people of the abovementioned districts would stage sit-ins in Peshawar and Islamabad if their demands were not fulfilled.