QUETTA: Balochistan Assembly member Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman has criticised the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks about using fuel savings to build highways in Balochistan during his visit to Quetta.
In an interview, he said such statements amount to an insult to the people of the province. He said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has delivered virtually nothing to his province and consturtucting N-25 National Highway on fuel savings money insult of the Balochistan and its people.
Rehman said Balochistan is often described as the backbone of CPEC. Yet, he added, not a single major development project under the initiative is visible in the province.
“If there were no Balochistan, there would be no Gwadar and no CPEC,” he said. Despite this, he said, the province remains deprived of motorways, modern transport, and industrial projects.
He said thousands of kilometers of roads were built under CPEC in other parts of Pakistan. In Balochistan, he added, not even one kilometer of motorway has been constructed.
Rehman said the past two years have been extremely difficult for the province. He pointed to persistent insecurity and fear across many areas.
He said travel restrictions remain in place at night in several districts. People continue to feel unsafe, he added.
The atmosphere of fear, he said, affects not only ordinary citizens but also government institutions.
Rehman also criticized the performance of the provincial government. He said billions of rupees were allocated for health and medicines in the 2025–26 budget.
Seven months later, he said, not a single rupee’s worth of medicine has reached public hospitals.
“The government is limited to claims and statements,” he said. “People are getting no real relief.”
He said Balochistan is suffering from poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and a severe lack of basic services. Fatal accidents, he added, have become routine.
Health and education sectors, he said, remain in a state of collapse.
Rehman said the situation is alarming given the province’s natural wealth. Despite abundant resources, he said, people are deprived of basic necessities.
Referring to Sui gas, he said gas extracted from Balochistan has supplied the entire country for decades. Yet local residents in Sui, he added, still burn firewood for survival.
He said gold, silver, and other minerals were also extracted from the province. The areas producing these resources, he added, still lack clean drinking water, schools, and health facilities.
Rehman said the people of Balochistan are not asking for charity. They are demanding their rightful share of their own resources.
He said if revenue from Reko Diq, CPEC, and mineral resources were spent within the province, Balochistan could become self-sufficient.
He blamed poor governance, corruption, and the violation of merit for the province’s problems.
Also Read: N-25 National Highway inaugurated in Balochistan
Rehman said honest, empowered, and people-centered governance could resolve these issues.
Without dignity, justice, jobs, and basic services, he said, claims of development will remain empty slogans.
