MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government is in contact with the federal government for a ‘reasonable’ share in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, a senior official said on Thursday.

“The 1,124 megawatts Kohala hydropower project is part of the CPEC and is of vital importance for the socioeconomic uplift of Azad Kashmir,” said Chief Secretary Sikandar Sultan Raja in a statement.

He said that the Kohala project would bring huge investment to the AJK private sector which would not only create hundreds of jobs and subsequently enhance the living standards of local population but would also significantly increase revenues.

Mr Raja said the power project, to be built at a cost of $32.4 billion, would be handed over to the AJK government 30 years after its commissioning “free of cost”, and would fetch Rs2.188bn annually to the AJK exchequer in terms of ‘water use charges’.

Apart from that, the AJK government would get around Rs14bn per annum from levy of different taxes on hydropower projects, he added.

The chief secretary asserted that the federal government was being approached to establish ‘industrial zones’ in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur under the CPEC projects, as well as a new route (to Gilgit-Baltistan) via the Neelum valley.

“The projects under the CPEC would enormously benefit Azad Kashmir... it will not only bring to an end our dependence on the federal government for fiscal resources but would also enrich us with surplus budget.”

The chief secretary said that the rights of the population to be affected by the Kohala project had been adequately taken care of during talks between the (Chinese) company and the Water and Power Development Authority of Pakistan.

“This is a national project and we all should extend full cooperation for its timely initiation and commissioning,” he said.

Meanwhile, at a high-level meeting held on Thursday to review the status of inquiries against alleged corruption and irregularities, the chief secretary directed the officials concerned to ensure that all the ongoing inquiries were completed at the earliest so that appropriate action could be taken against the culpable persons under the law.

The meeting was told that 24 inquiries of different cases had been completed while 44 inquiries were under process and eight cases were in the courts.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2016