Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qadoos Bizenjo has disclosed that a Saudi Arabian firm would set up a refinery in Gwadar to assess the quantity of minerals to be extracted from Deko Diq.
This comes after Pakistan and the Canadian company Barrick Gold Corporation a few days back reached an out-of- court settlement concerning the development of copper and gold mines in the area.The deal also envisaged ten billion dollars investment by the Canadian company.
Though the provincial Chief Minister did not elaborate further on the Saudi refinery but it is really important that an independent and transparent assessment of these Reko Diq minerals is done so that their maximum benefit reaches the people of Balochistan and the rest of the country.
In the past also, the deal with the Canadian company was cancelled after reports emerged that the company is not fair in its dealings and understating both the cold and gold deposits.
We expect that the Canadian company this time around will remain fair and transparent in its conduct.
These deposits belong to the people of Pakistan and robbing them of their resources will be a treacherous act.
Whilst there are several studies which suggest the resources at Reko Diq are of world class and one of the largest in the world, we believe that the assessment by the Saudi refinery will help bring to fore the real worth of these precious deposits.
We also really welcome the Canadian investment in this project as this will prove to be a gateway for other foreign investment and open up more exploration activities in this area as well as other regions of resource-rich Balochistan.
Our enemy will try to sabotage this investment.It is now responsibility of our security forces, especially the intelligence agencies to pre-empt and thwart these nefarious designs.
Natural resources of Balochistan indeed have the potential to change the whole economic landscape of Pakistan, and time has come to benefit from them to achieve self- reliance and come out of debt trap.
