KARACHI, May 11: A new controversy is brewing up on the issue of proposed Gwadar development authority as the idea has come under fire from all sides.

Residents and public representatives say that they are not being taken into confidence with regard to the vital development projects in Gwadar district and that all decisions are being taken at federal level even bypassing Gwadar’s district government.

A nationalist party has already announced its plan to take up the issue in a higher judicial forum because local people have been ignored in planning and decision-making stages.

The Nazim of Gwadar District Government, Babu Ghulab, has also joined the bandwagon by blasting the proposal of establishing the institution without taking the district government into confidence.

Talking to Dawn, the Nazim said the proposed federally-controlled Gwadar development authority would in no way be acceptable to the people of Gwadar.

He said that the people of Balochistan had whole-heartedly welcomed the efforts by the Musharraf government for the overall development of the province.

Mr Ghulab said the Gwadar deep-sea port, Mekran Coastal Highway, Mirani dam project, Kachi Canal project and Quetta water supply schemes were some of the few mega projects which were to be duly credited to the Musharraf government.

However, he added, there were certain elements who were bent upon depriving the people of Balochistan of the benefits of these projects by creating ‘unnecessary issues’ and ignoring the local people in decision-making process.

The Nazim said: “So far, all key decisions regarding development activity in the port town of Gwadar are being taken without taking the district government into confidence. These decisions are either made at Islamabad or Karachi.”

According to him, a high-level meeting on the proposed Gwadar development authority was called in Karachi on Monday. No elected representative of Gwadar was invited to attend the meeting.

The Nazim made it clear that the people of Gwadar would not accept an authority without having their representation in it.

He said: “We have already expressed our reservations about Gwadar Port Authority. With the establishment of the authority, two local officers, working on the Gwadar port project under the Ministry of Communication, were removed from their jobs on flimsy charges of inefficiency, he added.

The Nazim stated that he had raised the issue with the higher authorities, but no action had been taken against the arbitrary decision of the chairman, a nominee of the federal government.

He said such decisions and subsequently some measures had sent wrong messages to the people of Balochistan and the situation was being exploited by vested interests who were out to sabotage development projects in the province.

The Nazim said: “We have always supported development works in the town and helped the administration in maintaining law and order situation.” It was for this reason, he added, no untoward incident during the ongoing development works in the port town of Mekran had taken place. “This fact has also been accepted by our Chinese friends,” he said.

The Nazim of Gwadar suggested that all the development agencies operating in his district should be handed over to the district government as was done in Karachi and elsewhere in the country and required under the Local Government Ordinance 2001.