Prime Minister Imran Khan has expressed frustration over the slow speed of work on the development projects pertaining to the South Balochistan development package.
In a meeting held under the chairmanship of the prime minister today, the South Balochistan development package was discussed. The said package was announced in November last year, and included nine development projects worth Rs600 billion. The package, currently worth Rs655 billion, included, inter alia, construction of dams, development of agriculture, provision of electricity, income support for education, and road projects.
In the meeting today, Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed disappointment at how slow the projects were progressing and on the fact that the Balochistan chief minister had not convened the Apex Committee on the matter.
The prime minister was told that the Apex Committee held only one meeting a year. In response to this, Prime Minister Imran Khan directed that monthly meetings of the Apex Committee be held along with fortnightly meetings of the Executive Committee to aid the progress of 200 development projects under the package.
The prime minister stated that Balochistan’s problems were different from other parts of Pakistan due to the low density of its population, and added that the long distances meant the government needed to find unconventional solutions to the problems of the area.
He further ordered the ministries of Planning, Energy, Maritime Affairs and the Balochistan Government to work in unison to speed up the work on the projects under the package.
