Economic Infrastructure and Communications Kech

Introduction

Kech, a predominant rural district, is connected with other parts of the province and the country by air and by road. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has daily flights from and to different destinations. Although black top roads are only 50.6 kilometres long, shingle roads connect the district to other cities of the country. Buses ply daily to and from Karachi, Quetta, Panjgur, Khuzdar, Kharan and some other cities. These roads are difficult to travel during the rains. As the roads cross small streams and flood channels without any bridge, traffic is blocked till the lowering of the water level.

Roads

The total length of roads within the district is 1,516.6 kilometres out of which only 50.6 kilometres is metalled (black top). All these roads were constructed and are maintained by the provincial Buildings and Roads (B&R) Division of the Communications and Works (C&W) Department. A program of "farm to market roads" has been started by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under which roads from small villages to the major towns have been surveyed. Unavailability, and sometimes improper utilisation, of development budget and highly inequitable cost-benefit analysis are two major factors behind this little length of metalled roads.

At present Turbat-Buleda road is under construction with a total cost of rupees 17.5 million which has been reduced from its original cost of rupees 25.0 million (as approved in the PC-I). To reduce the cost bridges have been excluded. It was proposed by the B&R staff that instead of constructing black top roads, shingle roads should be made after earth work. The department is spending 0.6 million rupees per month for repair and maintenance of the existing shingle roads.

 Unavailability of black top roads in the district has hampered the transportation and, consequently, trade activities. According to the provincial B&R division, total daily traffic count on various roads of the district was 1,026 only. Due to high maintenance cost of the vehicles, transporters demand for high fare which further affects costs. Some areas do not even have shingle roads. Hence agriculture products cannot be marketed. The idea of private investments through Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) system for roads’ construction is viable if these roads help in enhancing the economic activities.

Transport

Any exact data on transport in Kech district is hard to find as no private motor vehicle owner gets his vehicle registered in the district. Only the government vehicles are registered or some vehicles are registered in other districts. Most of the vehicles are illegally imported from Gulf states via transit trade facility to Afghanistan and are re-imported illegally to Pakistan without paying any duty. These automobiles do not have any documentation, hence, are available for a relatively cheaper price. Same is the case with motorcycles. Hardly any of the motorcycles have a registration number. Many of them are illegally imported from Iran. The Department of Excise and Taxation is responsible for registration of automobiles and collection of revenue from the owners but the excise authorities seem quite heedless regarding this issue. Some vehicles move even with fake number plates on the road, but there is no authority to check them.

A limited number of buses ply from and to Turbat for other parts of the province due to unavailability of metalled roads. Journey from Turbat to Karachi takes about 30 hours while it is about 48 hours from Quetta to Turbat. Daily 6 coaches, from each side, ply between Karachi and Turbat, 2 between Quetta and Turbat, 2 between Khuzdar and Turbat via Panjgur, and two between Gwadar and Turbat via Pasni. A few pickups also ply daily from Turbat to Hoshab, Panjgur, Pasni, Jiwani, Gwadar, Awaran, and some other destinations.

Rail- and Airways

Kech has no railways. The national flag-carrier PIA operates 26 flights per week to connect Turbat to Karachi, Quetta, Panjgur, Dalbandin, Gwadar, Pasni, Ormara, and Jiwani. All other cities of the province are connected to Kech district by road.

Radio and Television

The district is out of Pakistan Television’s transmission range. Television owners watch satellite-recepted television programmes. Nobody pays Ptv licence fee, which seems justified as there is no Ptv transmission. Therefore no record about the number of television sets is available. However, as per estimate, every fourth household owns a television set and a satellite receiver in Turbat proper, while in rural areas this ratio is considerably lower.

Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Pakistan) has one broadcasting station of 0.25 K.W, M.W. at Turbat. This station was inaugurated on January 4, 1981 and daily transmits programmes for about five hours (1800-2310). It broadcasts in Urdu (3 hours) and Balochi (2 hours). People do not bother to pay radio licence fee, therefore no data are available about the total number of radio sets in the district.

Telecommunications

The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has provided a telephonic network to many villages of Kech. At present there are 5 digital and 2 analogue telephone exchanges with a capacity of 3,000 lines at Turbat, 500 lines at Kalatuk, 1,500 lines at Mand, 1,000 lines at Tump, 500 lines at Shahrak, 400 lines at Buleda and 400 lines at Nasirabad. Other exchanges are located at Gomazi and Nazarabad with 200 lines each; at Balicha with 150; at Allandur, Dasht Kuddan, Balochabad, Hoshab, Kalag, Phatan Kahor, Riddique and Sami with 100 lines; and at Asia abad, Balnigore, Gishkaur, Goodi, Heronk, Koshk, Nodiz, Pidarak, Pirani Kahn and Tolagi with 50 lines while telephone exchange at Tijaban has a capacity of 30 connections. The total number of telephone connections in the whole district are 5,004 up to February 1997. Although there are about 12 private call offices in Turbat town, no public call office is there. However, one Customer Service Centre is ready to be opened at Turbat and 2 others at Mand and Tump, which will provide all the telecommunication facilities to the public. Telegraphic and facsimile service, promoted by PTCL, is also available at Turbat only, but internet and e-mail services are not yet available.

Contrary to other government departments, PTCL staff was satisfied with the revenue collection. There was no complaint about defaulters. Many applications were pending because of the completion of cable networking process.

Post Offices / Courier Services

In Kech district, the Pakistan Postal Services Corporation has established one post office at Turbat and eleven sub-post offices at Kolwa, Buleda, Mand, Tump, Nasirabad, Kalatuk, Shahi Tump, Asia abad, Gishkaur, Balnigore, and Balicha. 20 branch posts offices are established at Chahsar, Koshkalat, Jusak, Absar, Hoshab, Nazarabad, Shahrak, Soland, Kuddan, Khairabad, Heronk, Pidarak, Tijaban, Sami, Kalag, Kirgari Kuhan, Dahday, Dandar, Nodiz, and Dihat. The post office at Turbat works as night post office in the evening. Although not very regular, a door to door delivery mechanism is present and mail is delivered throughout the district. Mail reaches Turbat by air as well as by road, but delayed delivery of mail is a common complaint. Among the special mail services, the Urgent Mail Service is available at Turbat post office only. There are 36 post boxes available at the Turbat post office for the public. Fax service was initiated once, but has now been abandoned. Saving bank facilities are available at the Turbat post office.

The sole courier service (TCS) is available at the district headquarters, i.e., Turbat, only.