Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting on Friday to review the pace of work on different projects under the umbrella of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). He appreciated the role of CPEC authority in giving momentum to implementation of the projects in rail-road infrastructure, building modern transportation system, energy, agriculture and establishment of special economic zones. Initially, the cost of multi-sectoral projects under CPEC framework was estimated to be $46 billion, but later it was revised to $ 62 billion. As all CPEC related projects are being financed with high interest bearing loans, multilateral donor agencies including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank expressed reservations about debt repayment capacity of loans ridden Pakistan’s economy. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells had spoken on sustainability CPEC debt. The project, which invited greater criticism, was upgradation and dualisation of 1872 kilometer Peshawar-Karachi main railway line M L-1at a cost of $9.2 billion. Planning Minister Asad told in a talk with a leading daily newspaper had said that government had decided to hire a reputed international consultant for the scrutiny of detailed engineering design of modernized multibillion Peshawar to Karachi main line railway track ML-1 project. This is a mandatory procedural requirement to ensure transparency and financial viability of a project before awarding formal contract. But it was deliberately discarded during the three tenures of governments of other two mainstream political parties to create room for kickbacks, which escalated the projects’ cost. It was never observed while awarding contracts in power sector and communication sector. The thermal power projects have become dead weight liability in terms of piling circular debt. Planning Commission has reduced the cost of M L-1 project after the detailed scrutiny and Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has cleared it at a cost of $7.2 billion, two billions less than earlier agreed cost by the last PML-N government. The cost reduction does not affect the original design, which is worth emulation precedent for ensuring transparency in execution of mega projects. It will also address the reservations of multilateral donor agencies about this multidimensional connectivity projects. The tariff agreed for the coal based thermal power project at 8 cents per unit as compared with 5 cents in other countries also needs downward revision to avoid long term fall out on the economy. Moreover, the technological and environmental issues of the already operational coal fired power plants needs to be addressed. Pakistan has now been placed at the sixth spot in the list of countries vulnerable to climate change impact. Greater reliance on fossil fuel for thermal generation will expose it more to this impact. Carbon scrubble device, preferably of German technology, needs to be installed in the coal run thermal power plants to reduce the density of emission of carbon monoxide and other harmful gases.
