GWADAR: Prime Minis­­ter Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that the huge mineral and natural resources of Balochistan belong to its people, but stressed that locals must support and take care of foreign investors who were striving for the betterment of the province.

“Balochistan is rich in huge minerals and other natural resources that need to be explored, and the fruits of the area’s development should be given to the local people,” the prime minister said, adding that the first right on the resources of the province belongs to the local people.

He emphasised that locals must enjoy all the basic facilities in all sectors, including health and education.

While referring to foreign investment and investors, he asked the people to take care of the friends who were making efforts for the betterment of the people of Gwadar.

“If we work against them, what will they think about us?” PM Sharif said, directing the relevant authorities to prioritise the security of foreigners.

The prime minister reiterated the government’s resolve to develop the Gwadar sea port as one of the best in the world and added that the fate of the people of Balochistan, especially of Gwadar, would be changed through the ongoing development operation across the province.

Speaking at a ceremony to distribute laptops and cheques in Gwadar, the prime minister said that the Chinese were working on various development projects, which were almost abandoned during the era of previous government, which not only halted work on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects but also led to strained relations with friendly countries due to its uncooperative approach and attitude.

However, he said that the coalition government, through hard work, has restored good relations with our friendly countries.

Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir also attended the ceremony, along with other ministers and senior officials.

The prime minister announced that the laptop quota for Balochistan has now been increased to 14 per cent against the province’s six per cent population share. He also directed the relevant authorities to further increase the laptop quota to 18 per cent for the next fiscal year.

PM Shehbaz said that the development of Balochistan at par with other provinces was inevitable, which faced ‘criminal negligence’ during the previous government.

He added that the Gwadar deep sea port would be fully functional by February or March of next year as the dredging of the port channel is under way, and once it’s completed, large ships would be able to anchor at Gwadar, which ranks among the world’s deepest ports.

The premier said that after being elected the prime minister for the third time in 2013, Nawaz Sharif planned and launched multiple projects in power, infrastructure, and other sectors in Gwadar.

However, PM Shehbaz lamented that when he visited as prime minister last year, he was shocked to note that the previous government had abandoned work on all ongoing projects in the city.

He said that despite 15 months of challenging times, the coalition government managed to lay the foundation of development and prosperity in the country, especially in Balochistan.

He said the draft of the Gwadar port was one of the deepest among the world’s top ports; however, dredging of the port, which is a continuous process to prevent accumulating silt, was not ensured by the previous government.

Now the current government has initiated the dredging process, which will be completed by February next year, he informed.

He said that in the five years from 2017 to 2022, only 100,000 tonnes of goods could arrive here, while goods of over 600,000 tonnes arrived at the Gwadar Port during the 15 months of the incumbent government.

During his visit to Gwadar, the prime minister inaugurated multiple development projects, which he said were conceived during Nawaz Sharif’s tenure but were put on the backburner.

He told the newsmen that he had inaugurated a clean drinking water project, also launched by Nawaz Sharif in 2015 but faced an unnecessary delay since then.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2023