China to resume work on Dasu hydropower project
Oct 24, 2021
Islamabad [Pakistan], October 24 : The Chinese firm that had stopped work on the Dasu hydropower project citing "security concerns" has said that it will resume its work from October 25, local media reported on Sunday.
According to a statement by China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC), phase-wise resumption of work will begin on October 25, Geo News reported.
According to the publication, all the Chinese engineers and foreigners working on the project visited the Dasu dam site.
The Chinese firm instructed all Pakistani workers working on the project to be prepared to report back to work. It said that all workers will be notified of the decision to resume work via telephone, Geo News reported.
The company had stopped work on the project, being carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kohistan district, after at least 12 people, including nine Chinese workers, were killed on July 14 when a bus carrying them fell into a ravine following an explosion due to a suicide attack, Geo News reported.
In the wake of the incident, the civil administration, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), and CGGC decided with mutual consultation to suspend construction work on the project.
A statement issued by WAPDA later in July said that the Chinese company working on the Dasu project had withdrawn the notice terminating Pakistani employees.
Then Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, in a statement responding to media queries, said, "The Chinese construction company [...] 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," Geo News reported.
