PESHAWAR, Aug 25: The multi-million rupee foreign funded on- farm-water-management project aimed to enhance effectiveness of the drainage and irrigation systems in the NWFP and Federally- Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) has been adversely hit by slow execution and low utilization of funds during the first two years of its implementation, official sources said.

Involving a total estimated cost of Rs1.71 billion, which includes foreign investment of about Rs1.02 billion in addition to local funding of over Rs690 million, the on-farm-water- management (OFWM) project is supposed to be completed by the end of the 2005-6 financial year in a span of 60 months.

However, the project may not be completed by the cut-off date in view of the pace at which it was being carried out in different parts of the province and Fata, according to the sources.

Though project executing agencies managed to utilize funds in close proximity with the actual financial allocation made for expenditure during the first year of its implementation — 2001-2 financial year — funds’ utilization ratio during the second year — 2002-3 financial year — remained much behind the actual allocation.

A total amount of Rs21.542 million was spent in 2001-2 financial year in the course of executing different schemes falling under the purview of the OFWM project. The expenditure incurred during the first year of OFWM project’s implementation remained well in line with the total allocation made for the same period.

However, the last financial year, said the sources, proved to be a difficult year for the project executing agencies as throughout the year they kept on struggling to match their expenditure with the allocation made separately by the provincial government and the international lending agency — the World Bank.

During the first nine months of the 2002-3 financial year, the project executing agencies managed to utilize a total of Rs2.68 million out of total annual allocation of Rs25 million earmarked by the provincial government.

The funds utilized was 10.7 per cent of the actual allocation and 21 per cent of the downward revised allocation.

After the project executing agencies failed to improve utilization of funds, the provincial government revised the allocation bringing it down from the original level of Rs25 million to Rs12.5 million.

Sources in the NWFP planning and developed department said that the project executing agencies may not be able to utilize 100 per cent of the revised allocation.

Similarly, slow execution of development schemes, said the sources, may result in low utilization of the funds provided by the lending agency.

Out of the total amount of Rs113.486 million allocated by the lending agency, the authorities managed to spend hardly Rs20.9 million by the end of the first nine months of the previous financial year, making slightly over 18 per cent of the funds allocated by the donor agency.

In all the project executing agencies, including the NWFP agriculture and irrigation departments in addition to Governor’s Secretariat for Fata, utilized a total of Rs23.6 million during the first nine months of the last financial year.

A senior development planner of the province, when contacted by Dawn, expressed hope that funds’ utilization would have improved during the last quarter of the previous financial year.

He based his optimism on the precedents as pace of execution got accelerated in the third and fourth quarter of every fiscal due to smooth flow of development funds by funding agencies.