Sindh’s share in Thar coal

Sindh’s share in Thar coal

Kawish

The government’s decision to use the Thar coal reserves for power generation is a positive move. According to the plan, 1,000 megawatts of power will be generated and within six years the figure will rise to 6,000 megawatts. An international conference is to be held in Washington to seek foreign investment in this endeavour. This will surely help overcome obstacles which have so far hindered progress on this project. Foreign companies have expressed interest in the project time and again but these moves have been jeopardised by certain hidden forces.

However, there is no gain for the people of the province whenever Sindh’s resources are utilised. It is evident from the Badin oil and Ghotki gas [projects] that Sindh is the richest region in terms of natural resources. It is unfortunate that despite these resources abject poverty is widespread and the poor are compelled to commit suicide. A number of such incidents have been reported in the press. Sindh did not benefit from the oil exploration and similarly it got nothing when it came to gas.

Now when coal is being exploited, authority and power have been transferred to the centre. Constitutionally and in accordance with fundamental human rights, the first right of utilisation of natural resources goes to the local indigenous people. Regrettably neither the constitution nor human rights are adhered to, hence the local population gets no benefit whatsoever from its own resources.

Leave aside a share in the income from these resources, local people are not even given jobs in the companies which extract oil from their lands. Media reports provide ample evidence of protests by local people demanding jobs in these companies.

It is universally recognised that wherever companies explore or exploit oil or gas, priority vis-à-vis jobs is given to the local people. As neither the political parties nor civil society organisations have properly represented these people and played a positive and effective role, this universally recognised principle does not get implemented here. It should be noted that the issue is not of jobs alone but the also the fact that locals are deprived of even this small part in the overall gains made by exploitation.

The people of Sindh have been demanding exploitation of Thar coal but not at this cost. It is imperative that any agency that is involved in the exploitation of black gold should work under the Sindh government. This is purely a provincial matter and its administration and implementation should come under the Sindh government. If power over provincial resources continues to be transferred to the federal government, it will create more doubts and misunderstandings. When the PPP came to power, it announced that provincial autonomy is among its top priorities. This begs the question: how does the transfer of natural resources to the federal government make provinces autonomous? — (July 18)

— Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi.