A Chinese power company has suspended work on the Tarbela Dam Extension Five power project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi district for security reasons following the death of five Chinese nationals in a suicide attack in Shangla on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, five Chinese workers working on the Dasu Dam project in Kohistan lost their lives in a suicide blast in Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A company named China Power is working on various projects including the Tarbela Extension Five project in Pakistan including Basha Dam project.
The Tarbela Extension Five project is expected to generate about 1500 MW per day and the work on the project was started in 2021 and is scheduled to be completed in 2026.
The project is being funded by the World Bank and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank. A notice was also issued from the camp office regarding the suspension of work and dismissal of employees on the Tarbela project, according to which all employees are dismissed for the time being.
According to the notice: ‘The project work is suspended till further notice due to security reasons from March 26. All site workers and office staff are laid off until further notice. The same staff will come on duty, whose section in-charge will inform.
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A security official posted at Tarbela Dam told Independent Urdu that ‘Work on Tarbela Extension has been stopped since yesterday and the Chinese workers have been confined to their camp only.’
He said that no one except Chinese nationals is allowed to enter the special camp of Chinese workers in Tarbela, while security has been tightened outside the camp.
According to the official: ‘There is a separate camp for Chinese employees in Tarbela premises and apart from Chinese nationals some Sri Lankan nationals are also working here and only go to Islamabad to return to China and apart from that camp. live within.’
A person residing inside the Tarbela Dam premises confirmed to Independent Urdu that the work on the project has stopped and told that the Pakistani workers including Chinese nationals have also been laid off for the time being and the work on the project has stopped.
Independent Urdu contacted the office of the Project Director of Tarbela Extension Five but could not speak to anyone.
The project director’s office assistant told Independent Urdu that he had gone to the Tarbela site due to some problem. However, no stand has come out from his side until the news was posted.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed a joint investigation into the deaths of five Chinese nationals working on the Dasu Hydel Power Project in the terrorist attack.
According to a press release issued by the media wing of the Prime Minister’s Office, a high-level emergency meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif after the terrorist attack on Chinese nationals working on the Dasu Hydel Power Project in Bisham.
According to the statement, the Prime Minister appreciated the prompt response of law enforcement agencies and local people to the attack and directed that a joint investigation of the incident should be conducted utilizing all resources of the state.
According to the British news agency Reuters, the Chinese embassy in Islamabad has demanded a comprehensive investigation of the incident from the government of Pakistan.
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2024-05-11 01:39:34