Reservations on CPEC: PBIF president urges government to take stakeholders on board

President of Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) Mian Zahid Hussain has urged the government to notice the calls for transparency in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and take those to task who are responsible for frequent changes in the planned projects.
Expressing concern over frequent changes in the plan of the CPEC that is sending a negative signal to investors, he said weakness in the planning was damaging the largest investment in the energy sector in the history of Pakistan. Mian said that a 660MW initiative was disallowed completely and for another project, it was asked to use local coal and arrange financing for it which could result in failure or delay of the project. He said that solar power tariff was also revised while a power project in the Salt Range had collapsed sending a very negative signal to the investors.
"First, government allowed coal-fired projects and later directed the companies to use local coal to save the foreign exchange which clearly indicated weaknesses in the planning that is detrimental for the project and also for the country," he said.
"Some provinces have been expressing reservations regarding the project and they are not being allayed therefore the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has approached high court regarding the western route of CPEC," he cited adding that it was a very disturbing development which would send a negative signal and scare away investors.
Therefore, PBIF president urged the government not to waste time to take stakeholders on board and ensure greater transparency. He also appealed to the opposition parties not to make this epoch-making project controversial like Kalabagh dam because it would be unfortunate.