ISLAMABAD, July 03 (DNA): China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
Authority Chairman Asim Saleem Bajwa on Saturday said that he is seeing
a revolution of development in the Southern Balochistan with completion
of CPEC projects.

He was sharing updates on the progress of various development projects
with the media persons in Hoshab, Balochistan. Asim Saleem Bajwa said
there was a special focus on implementation of the Rs600 billion package
for development projects in southern Balochistan.

“As per the vision of the prime minister, all of the remote regions of
the country need to be improved and brought up to the [level] of other
developed areas and completion of the overall south Balochistan project
would allow people to benefit from CPEC, Gwadar port and accessibility
to Karachi would increase as well,” Asim Bajwa said.

CPEC Chairman said that there was a need to bring the remotest regions
of the country in line with developed areas as per the prime minister’s
vision.

Asim Saleem Bajwa said that a major priority of the prime minister Imran
Khan was to connect CPEC and the Gwadar port with the country’s north
for which roads were being developed.

He shared an update and said construction was under way on the
Hoshab-Awaran road and the Basima-Khuzdar road project was also 70 per
cent complete and would be completed by year-end.

“There are around 80 ongoing schemes but apart from that there are
around 200 schemes in this entire [development] package,” Bajwa said,
adding that a network of roads would be laid “which is a dream of the
people here”.

The CPEC chairman said around 39pc of the development package had been
set aside for communication infrastructure and connectivity. This
included plans for expansion of the Turbat airport and installing
internet and broadband services in the region, he added.

He said the prime minister had approved the linking of the national grid
with south Balochistan for which a grid station in Basima was being
constructed which would generate 150 megawatt of electricity and there
is also a 3,000MW power project in Gwadar on which work has started.

Also, installation of desalination plants and construction of 31 dams in
nine south Balochistan districts had begun, he said.

Bajwa also thanked the locals, security forces and law enforcement
agencies for cooperating together to clear the area from terrorists and
said a border fence was being erected as well with around 650 kilometres
completed.

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