November 07, 2016
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday said frequent changes in the plan of CPEC is sending a negative signal to investors.
Weaknesses in the planning have been damaging the largest investment in the energy sector in the history of Pakistan, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that a 660MW initiative has been disallowed completely while another project has been asked to use local coal and arrange financing for it which can result in failure or delay of the project.
He said that solar power tariff has also been revised while a power project in the Salt Range has collapsed sending a very negative signal to the investors.
The business leader said that government allowed coal-fired projects and later directed the companies to use local coal to save the foreign exchange which clearly indicate weaknesses in the planning that is detrimental for the project as well as country.
He said that government should notice the calls for transparency in the CPEC while those responsible for frequent changes in the middle of the projects should be taken to the task.
Mian Zahid said that some provinces have been expressing reservations regarding the project which are not being allayed therefore the speaker of a province has decided to invoke high court regarding the western route of CPEC.
This is a very disturbing development which will send a negative signal and scare away investors therefore government should waste no time to take stakeholders on board and ensure greater transparency, he demanded.
He also appealed opposition parties not to make this biggest project of history controversial Kalabagh dam which will be unfortunate.
