20 January 2004	Tuesday	27 Ziqa'ad 1424

PESHAWAR, Jan 19: The NWFP government and the World Bank would shortly sign an agreement under which the latter would provide Rs3.1 billion to the province for the implementation of the second phase of the Community Infrastructure Project (CIP-II).

According to an official handout, details of the CIP-II were discussed in detail during a meeting between the provincial chief minister Akram Khan Durrani and a visiting mission of the World Bank here on Monday.

The chief minister would visit Washington to sign the agreement for the project, according to the handout. Ms Julie G. Viloria-Williams (Task Leader), Instructional Development Specialist, South Asia Region, World Bank, led the bank's team.

During the talks, the CM said that his government was going all-out to accomplish the aims of the projects initiated by international donors for the development, welfare and prosperity of the people of the Frontier province.

He said that his government had removed obstacles to ensuring smooth execution of projects initiated by the international donors, and that it would take every possible measure to remove more hindrances.

The chief minister, according to the handout, said that his government did not believe in favouritism and would not appease a handful of people at the cost of the people of the province.

He said that the projects of World Bank or other donor agencies were for the collective benefit of the people and that these projects were in consonance with the provincial government's aims.

He assured the World Bank that community could be involved in the execution of the CIP-II and that it would be executed in a transparent manner. The public representatives would be involved in the process to make the project in consonance with the public aspirations.

The chief minister said that a majority of the people in the province were living below the poverty line. The people had great expectations from the MMA government in respect of poverty alleviation and creation of job opportunities.

On this occasion, the chief minister also referred to a report prepared by some leading international independent institutions in which it had been mentioned that the CIP-I met most of its targets in the Frontier province.

The chief minister, the handout said, informed the World Bank team that he had been invited by the expatriate Pakistanis to visit United States during which he would explore opportunities of attracting foreign investment in the NWFP.

The World Bank mission leader Ms Julie G. Viloria-Williams appreciated MMA's developmental strategy, good governance and policies. According to the handout, she said that during the early days of the MMA-led NWFP government, World Bank had some misunderstanding but the effective and forward-looking policies of this government brought a change and removed these misunderstandings.