The Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources has asked the government to review an agreement with the Chinese company operating Saindak copper and gold mine in Chaghi district of Balochistan, accusing the company of shifting precious minerals abroad without paying due share to the country.
The committee, which met here on Tuesday with Senator Mohammad Yousaf in the chair, asked the federal government to get the minerals, being extracted from Saindak, tested from an international laboratory so that the real value of the minerals could be determined. Mohammad Raziq Sangrani, Managing Director Saindak Metals Limited, told the committee that the federal and provincial governments had extended the agreement with the Chinese company for another five years. Terming the extension of the said agreement as a criminal act, the Committee”s Chairman accused the government of wasting the province”s natural resources.
The committee unanimously asked the federal government to send a sample of ore to a laboratory based in the UK for examination. Senator Yousaf alleged that the Chinese company had occupied Saindak region by investing only $23 million. Senator Rubina Irfan claimed that the federal government had spent over Rs 37 billion in the constituency of the Prime Minister, while the entire Balochistan province was ignored.
Senator Abdul Nabi Bangash was of the view that some elements having vested interests had eaten up billions of rupees from the Saindak project. He said that Sui-Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) was reluctant to provide gas connection to the local people of Tal Tehsil of Kohat wherein gas was being produced. Abid Saeed, Secretary Ministry of Petroleum, told the committee that Tal Block of district Kohat was oil/gas rich area, where local as well as international companies were working.
