Pakistan’s NAB unveils corruption in Gwadar project

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 24  While Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government “plans” to make Gwadar the “next Dubai” under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative, the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) Balochistan chapter has unveiled a total corruption of approximately 1.24 billion rupees in the Gwadar Water Desalination Project.
According to The Express Tribune, the Water Desalination Project was initiated to provide clean water to the residents of the port city of Gwadar.
Pakistan’s anti-graft watchdog on Wednesday filed a reference in the Quetta accountability court against three former Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) chairmen for misuse of authority and corrupt practices in the installation of the water desalination plant.
NAB had also filed a reference against 15 persons including 5 tehsildars for tampering with the revenue record and an illegal sale of government land in Gwadar, reported The Express Tribune.
It further reported that the investigation into the incident revealed the current Tehsildar Gwadar Buhair Dashti and former Gwadar Tehsildars including others sold 844 acres of land to private individuals after tampering with the official record.
The illegal sale of government land had caused a loss of approximately Pakistani Rs 214 million to the national exchequer, reported The Express Tribune.
In 2015, China announced an economic project in Pakistan worth USD 46 billion. With the CPEC, Beijing aims to expand its influence in Pakistan and across Central and South Asia in order to counter the influence of the United States and India.
The CPEC would link Pakistan’s southern Gwadar port (626 kilometres west of Karachi) in Balochistan on the Arabian Sea to China’s western Xinjiang region. It also includes plans to create road, rail, and oil pipeline links to improve connectivity between China and the Middle East.