Chief Minister Khyber Pukhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has directed the revenue department to streamline the process of acquiring 80,000 Kanal of land for settingup Rashakai special economic zone by expediting payments to the land owners. The groundbreaking ceremony of this economic zone was tentatively planned in January which did not materialise due to delay in land acquisition and completion of PC-1 by the power division for the installation 200 megawatt grid station and the one by petroleum division for the supply of gas. Hence, the completion of land acquisition process alone cannot fast-track launching of Rashakai special economic zone.
The matters pertaining to setting up joint ventures between the local and Chinese entrepreneurs are yet to be sorted out by the federal government. There is no long term programme of skill development for the locally available manpower to easily get employment in the industries which are to be relocated from China. Moreover, it is also not clear as to which type of environmental laws shall be applied to save the populated areas from health hazards which are close the economic zone wherein not so environment friendly industries such as marble, plastic and steel products shall be relocated. Notwithstanding publicity campaign about the Rasakai special economic zones, no long term planning and short term strategies are in place to impart skill development to local workforce to enable it operate fifth generation technologies and address the likely environmental issues. Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) has done nothing in this regard so far.
