Gwadar port to accelerate socio-economic development of whole region: PM Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday expressed his firm resolve to end the “sense of deprivation” among the people of Balochistan by launching a series of development projects and undo the decades of neglect towards the province.

“Ensuring complete peace, security and socioeconomic development for the people of Balochistan are the key priorities of my government,” Khan said while chairing the second meeting of the National Development Council.

The Prime Minister said he was fully cognisant of the problems of the people of Balochistan and expressed his commitment to turn the situation around by providing them relief and services in the “best possible manner”.

He said financial resources allocated for Balochistan in the past “were never diverted towards the development of the province”. The Prime Minister said such a state of affairs led to the dismal development in the province and was the cause of the sense of deprivation among its people. The meeting was attended by federal ministers Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Hammad Azhar, Ali Zaidi and Omer Ayub Khan, advisers Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Abdul Razak Dawood, as well as Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal Khan.

Also in attendance were Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Lt-Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa, and Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed and other senior officials.

The meeting reviewed in detail several projects related to the national development agenda. These included the provision of means of communications in the remote areas of Balochistan, better facilities for irrigation, agriculture, energy and setting up of barter markets to attain optimal benefit from the Gwadar Port.

Khan said the development of Gwadar Port would be a “game changer” for not only the people of Balochistan, but also for the entire region.

He said it was vital that there was complete focus on development of infrastructure, provision of employment for the youth and completion of road networks so the people could benefit from the completion of the Gwadar Port and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

In this regard, the Prime Minister constituted a committee comprising Minister for Planning Asad Umar, Adviser on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal that would submit a report to him on the priority areas for development; particularly in communications, agriculture, energy and other important sectors.

The meeting also gave approval for the setting up of Balochistan Mineral Exploration Company that would work for better utilisation of the mineral resources of Balochistan and boost exploration activities.