As per the statement of senior Minister of Planning and Development, the government is to abolish the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority and will replace it. All matters related to various CPEC projects will be handed over to the Planning Commission with designating a special secretary to deal with the matters. The committee meeting was attended by senators, Dinesh Kumar, Dost Mohammad Khan, Mohammad Tahir Bizenjo, Nuzhat Sadiq, and Mohammad Abdul Qadir, Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan, Hidayatullah, and officials of the concerned ministry. While briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Planning and Development under the chairmanship of Senator Saleem Mandviwall, the officials said that the ministry is working on the modalities and a final decision in this connection will be taken soon. The step is being taken for facilitating the Chinese investors and contractors working on CPEC projects who are facing serious problems for the past many years. As Chinese investors and contractors were also facing problems in getting visas and the government is to make the process swift. While responding to the bill titled, “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority (Amendment) Bill 2021,” tabled by Senator Sherry Rehman, the panel was informed that Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal has directed the ministry to abolish the CPEC Authority. Moreover, it was also mentioned that CPEC Authority was not doing enough, it was no longer needed and therefore to close it down a bill will soon be introduced in the parliament. Talking about the non-implementation of the proposals sent by the senators to the ministry on the PSDP projects, the chairman committee expressed his serious concerns. It was informed by the concerned ministry that all the budget proposals submitted by the committee have been rejected and no explanation was given for this rejection. The budget has been reduced from Rs900 billion to Rs500 billion.
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