ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Around 215 Chinese engineers and other staff members have arrived in Pakistan from China this week to expedite work on several hydropower projects under the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC), a spokesman for China Gezhouba Group Company, which is running the projects, said.
Pakistan’s federal government set up the CPEC Authority late last year to expedite work on over $60 billion worth of CPEC projects that have stalled since the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan came to power in 2018. Asim Saleem Bajwa, a retired military general, was appointed to head the body.
Since June 6, Pakistan and China have signed projects worth more than $12 billion, including for two hydropower projects in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and the rehabilitation and upgrade of a 1,872 KM long colonial-era railway track at an estimated cost of $8.17 billion.
A view of tunnel work at CPEC Suki Kinari Hydropower Project. (Photo courtesy: China Gezhouba Group Company)
Travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has now killed more than half a million people, have idled much of the world’s second-largest economy, China, and choked key elements of its signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), of which CPEC is a flagship project.
But batches of Chinese staff are arriving in Pakistan once again to kickstart work on projects including the Suki-Kinari, Neelum Jhelum, and Dasu hydropower projects as well as the Mohmand Dam project.
In this undated photo, Chinese construction workers of China Gezhouba Group Company working at a CPEC project site in Pakistan. (Photo courtesy: China Gezhouba Group Company)
A third group of Chinese engineers and other staff members arrived in Islamabad from China’s Sichuan Province on July 13, a press release from state-owned China Gezhouba Group Company said.
“This is the third batch of Chinese CPEC workers returning to Pakistan through charter plane organized by China Gezhouba with assistance from Ministry of Foreign Affairs since the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Mustafa Kamal, spokesman of China Gezhouba Group Company, said. “Majority of the Chinese workers had left Pakistan before the outbreak for the Chinese New Year festival and were unable to return to Pakistan because of the spread of coronavirus that resulted in lockdowns and international flight suspensions.”
China Gezhouba Group Company take a group photo after arriving in Islamabad, Pakistan to restart work on CPEC projects July 13, 2020. (Photo courtesy: China Gezhouba Group Company)
The company is one of the largest publicly owned Chinese entities, executing a number of projects in Pakistan — including under the CPEC umbrella — worth around $9 billion in Pakistan.
The company spokesman said all staff had gone through a compulsory quarantine period of 14 days in China and were tested for coronavirus there. After arrival at Islamabad airport, they had been taken straight to isolation centers established on project sites where they will be quarantined for an additional 14 days.
Two groups of CPEC staffers had arrived in Pakistan earlier, Kamal said, and were safely deputed to work. He said the company roughly had 24,800 local employees and around 14,000 Chinese workers working on various CPEC projects.
