The construction work on New Gwadar International Airport is in full swing and it will be made fully operational by September 2023. Secretary Aviation Division Shaukat Ali informed this to the Parliamentary Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which met in the chair of its Chairman Sher Ali Arbab here on Thursday.
Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) Chairman Shabbir Ahmed Baloch informed the committee that all the efforts regarding completion of the Pakistan-China Technical & Vocational Institute are on track and the project will be completed by December 2021. He said that GPA is also consulting with National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) and Chinese authorities to devise a broad curriculum for the institute.
The CPEC Committee Chairman Sher Ali Arbab stressed that Gwadar is gateway to CPEC and undeniably important in the entire rationale behind CPEC. “We have to place it at high priority therefore no effort should be spared in resolving all the outstanding issues of clean water, electricity, infrastructure and livelihoods faced by the people of Gwadar,” he remarked.
The committee remarked that while keeping present and future skills required in view, the curriculum for the institute should be devised in a way that there must not be any gap between the skills required and offered in the institute.
The committee also directed the concerned departments to expedite the process of payments to be disbursed among the affected people of damaged houses and land acquisitions so that people of Gwadar, who are already agitating for basic amenities of life, could be compensated.
On the agenda of Chashma Right Bank Canal (CRBC), DI Khan, Chairman WAPDA Lieutenant General (retd) Muzammil Hussain apprised the committee that feasibility study and the detailed engineering design of the project would be completed by March next year.
Sher Ali Arbab said that the project is pivotal for the agriculture sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and decided that the committee will convene a special follow-up meeting on the said project in February next year to ensure that the given timelines are met in letter and spirit.
The committee remarked that the $1 billion grant given by China for socio-economic development projects under CPEC framework should be utilised effectively by including the projects having high social impacts and high visibility.
The committee directed the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives to devise a comprehensive framework through which provinces may choose the projects which could bring value addition and meet true sense of socio-economic development.
