Recently, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor-CPEC cabinet committee ordered the ministries to immediately vacate the 116 acres of the prime land of Gwadar that was in the possession of law enforcement agencies.
This delay in having Gwadar land vacated, according to the official documents, has also slowed down the work on the Gwadar Free Zone as well as the Gwadar Eastbay Expressway, the two projects that are very critical and necessary for the overall functioning of the Port of Gwadar.
The Minister of Planning and Development, Asad Umar, headed the cabinet panel and also directed both the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense to play their role in vacating this ground. Under the Pak-China Gwadar Port agreement, this land was leased to Chinese companies.
The CPEC Committee reported that the Ministry of Defense was required to issue directives to the Pakistan Navy to vacate 72 acres of land.