NDC makes major decisions for ongoing development projects

ISLAMABAD: The National Development Council (NDC) has made important decisions for the ongoing development projects during a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The meeting was attended by the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, chief ministers of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Special Assistant on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan, commerce adviser, Commander Southern Command and others.

The progress of ongoing development projects were reviewed by the participants including Gwadar master plan and establishment of the CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor] Authority besides matters related to KP-Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) merger and development plan for the fiscal year of 2019-20.

A briefing was given to the council’s members for making improvements in security arrangements in Balochistan province, border management and establishment of state writ.

The briefing highlighted that Balochistan was kept unprivileged following the negligence of previous governments due to wastage of development budget up to 45 per cent, security challenges and misuage of resources.

It has been decided to expedite development working in various projects initiated in Balochistan and effective steps to be taken for reducing backwardness and hike in budgetary allocations for the next nine years, said the declaration released after the conclusion of the meeting.

The government will make concrete steps to raise income of Balochistan’s income after reducing its deficit by bettering communication system and infrastructure. It was decided to immediately complete M-8 Motorway project, Basima-Khuzdar Road, 124-kilometre Awaran-Bela Road and 819-kilometre-long Chaman-Quetta-Karachi motorway.

On development of coastal areas of the province, the council gave approval in principal after undertaking feasibility studies for port at Gaddani and establishment of Special Economic Zone at Hub.

The forum also approved constitution of National Coastal Development Authority for development of tourist resorts and promoting tourism along the coastal areas of the province including Jiwani, Gawadar, Pasni, Makola, Ormara, Kund Malir, Hingol Park and Miani Hor.

Furthermore, the proposal for the development of eight landing sites at ports and promoting local boat industry including provision of 10,000 Green Boats were endorsed.

It was apprised to the NDC members that the Balochistan province will be divided into four zones (Chagai Zone, Quetta-Duki, Khuzdar-Lasbella and Coastal Zone) and appropriate model will be put in place to encourage private investment in large-scale mining for the development of mines and mineral resources.

The government also reviewed the progress of oil and gas sector and briefed that efforts are underway develop 4 new blocks including Block-28, Zhob, Zorgarh, Jandran & Kohlu for exploration, in addition to carrying out seismic survey at 30 onshore sites.

The meeting was also briefed about various plans for improvement of agriculture and water-management in the province.

A major decision was taken for the constitution of CPEC Authority to ensure fast track implementation of the projects.

Discussing development of Gwadar and Master Plan of the city, the forum approved the conceptual framework of Gwadar Special Economic District.

Moreover, the council discussed the accelerated 10-year development plan for erstwhile FATA.

The forum reiterated the commitment of the federal government to ensure availability of allocated funds, timely releases and special dispensation for procurement of specialized execution agencies including National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK), Frontier Works Organization (FWO), National Highway Authority (NHA) and facilitation for screened non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to operate within merged tribal areas for smooth and uninterrupted development.