ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri has asserted that work on Dasu hydropower project would resume soon as both Pakistan and China remained committed to the timely completion of this project.
According to a statement issued today (Sunday), the FO spokesperson said that the Chinese construction company, China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) through its latest notification has declared its earlier notice, about contract termination of employment of Pakistani personnel working on Dasu Hydropower Project, null and void.
He further said matters regarding security and execution of the project were being looked into, and the relevant authorities from Pakistan and China have been in close contact on the same.
At least 13 people – nine Chinese nationals and four Pakistanis – were killed and more than two dozen others wounded Wednesday morning when a shuttle bus they were travelling in plunged into a deep ravine after an explosion on board.
The bus was ferrying the Chinese and Pakistani workers to an under-construction tunnel site of the Dasu Hydropower Project in the remote Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
After the incident, the Chinese firm working on the Dasu Hydropower Project stopped work on the site citing “security concerns”. The Dasu Hydropower Project includes the construction of a 4,320MW hydropower plant on the Indus River in Kohistan.
Earlier on Saturday, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid informed that the investigation into Dasu bus incident was in final stage. A 15-member team of Chinese investigators had also arrived and visited the incident site with security agency officials.
