Sindh CM opposes proposal to fund CPEC security from NFC Award

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has opposed the proposal for allocating funds from the federal National Finance Commission (NFC) Award for the security of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and said that the move would be 'unconstitutional'.

Shah also opposed the use of these funds under the proposal for projects in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), reports the Dawn.

Shah made these observations in a meeting with Punjab Finance Minister Aisha Ghaus Pasha on Wednesday.

The Sindh Chief Minister said the federal government's proposal to allocate three percent funds from the divisible pool for security arrangements for CPEC-related projects and four percent for the development of Fata, Gilgit-Baltitstan and Kashmir is unreasonable and against the Constitution.

"The divisible pool is only for distribution of collected funds among the provinces," he added.

According to an official statement, Shah is of the opinion that the federal government has already allocated one percent of the funds from the divisible pool for maintenance of law and order in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) alone. Therefore, the recent demand is unconstitutional, and "cannot be met".

"The Sindh government has already raised a force of at least 2,000 ex-army men to provide security to CPEC-related projects and its employees. Apart from that, the Sindh government has spent Rs300 billion on maintenance of law and order from 2010-11 to 2015-16," he said adding, "The federal government did not bother to bear a single penny of the expense."

"I request the Punjab, KP and Balochistan governments to develop consensus and oppose the proposal," he said.

On her part, the Punjab Finance Minister assured Shah of her support.