Pakistan’s Parliamentary Committee on CPEC annoyed over slow utilization of US $1 billion Chinese grant

Islamabad: Pakistan’s Parliamentary Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has expressed dissatisfaction over dilly-dallying in the process of completion of socio-economic projects under Chinese grant of US $1 billion.

The committee asked the provinces to effectively and timely utilize the $1 billion Chinese grant by undertaking those socio-economic projects which could bring value addition and sustainable impacts for improving the lives of common people, said an official statement.

The Committee, highlighting the importance of the second phase of CPEC, observed that utmost efforts were exerted to expeditiously complete the first phase of CPEC, it added.

The 36th (in-camera) meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on CPEC was held here at Parliament House under the chairmanship of Sher Ali Arbab, the statement said. The committee was briefed senior officials of the relevant ministries and departments.

The Committee said Pakistan had entered into the most promising second phase of CPEC. The focus of the CPEC’s second phase is to effectively operationalize Gwadar and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and set up important industries there, it added.

“Given Pakistan’s weak economy, we will be doomed, if these goals are not achieved. Therefore the purpose of waiver of taxes on industries as per model extended to construction sector is to incentivize industries, enhance local and foreign direct investment, generate revenue, create massive employment opportunities for local people and ultimately lead Pakistan towards the path of sustainable economic development,” The Committee said in the statement.

The committee recommended to Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to convene a joint meeting along-with Board of Investment, Ministry of Commerce, and Ministry of Industries and Production and come up with comprehensive proposals so that industrial sector could be incentivized well in time.

The Committee also observed that lack of implementation of Axle Load Policy was causing huge damage to the road infrastructure and burden on national exchequer in form of road repair.

The committee decided to take up the issue at the highest forum so as to ensure the implementation of axle load policy and law in letter and spirit.

Ministry of Communications officials informed that they had requested the Prime Minister’s Office to reconstitute the committee for further deliberation and taking decision on the implementation of Axle Load Policy.

The Axle Load of a wheeled vehicle is the total weight bearing on the roadway for all wheels connected to a given axle. Axle Load is an important design consideration in the engineering of roadways and railways, as both are designed to tolerate a maximum weight-per-axle. Exceeding the maximum rated axle load causes damage to the roadway or rail tracks.

The meeting was attended by Noor Alam Khan, Sadaqat Ali Khan Abbasi, Umer Aslam Khan, Nafeesa Inayatullah Khattak, Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Mehnaz Akber Aziz, Zahid Akram Durrani, and Muhammad Aslam Bhootani.