KARACHI, Aug 3: The slow pace of work and quality of the federally-financed and executed projects in Sindh, especially those pertaining to road construction, has caused concern to the provincial government
, which has already expressed its reservations over disbursement of funds, sources said on Saturday.
At least seven bridges constructed in the province about three years ago as part of the North-bound section of the N-5 Highway in Ghotki district have been damaged, the sources said.
Eyebrows had been raised owing to damage to the bridges in just three years, while highway patrol was reluctant to take responsibility of allowing heavy vehicles on the bridges due to the poor quality of construction work, the sources added.
They said that highways were categorised as long-life roads which should last at least ten for years, while the life span of bridges on such roads was calculated to be 50 years.
Owing to the poor condition of roads in the province, robbers were acting with impunity in the absence of highway patrol. The Sindh government has also expressed its concern over slow disbursement of funds for the completion of such projects.
According to sources, the Executive Committee of National Economic Council's meeting on May 22 this year, was informed that 46 per cent of the funds for the federal public sector development projects (PSDP) were utilized, whereas in the corresponding period in 2002-2003 it was 56 per cent. No reason for a ten per cent decline in fund utilization during the same period this year was given.
A surprising situation emerged when the NEC, which met under the chairmanship of the then prime minister on June 1, was informed that the rate of fund utilization was 60 per cent, showing 14 per cent increase within 10 days, the sources said, adding that was not the end, and on July 27 the ECNEC was informed that 90 per cent of the fund had been utilized. But there was no corresponding improvement in the work on different federally-funded projects, they mentioned.
According to the sources, this phenomenal increase in the rate of utilization was made possible by diverting most of the funds to the National Highway Authority to save these from being lapsed.
However they were concerned that when funds were available with the NHA why the roads in Sindh were in such a bad shape and why they had been pushed back on the priority list.
Rs500 million were transferred on June 28 for K-III project, while Rs200 million were earmarked for the infrastructure development in Thar, the sources said. The north-bound section of N-5 from Hala was complete but the 450-km-long south-bound section between Hala and Sindh border, which was approved by the ECNEC two years back, was still in a shambles. The cost of this section was estimated at Rs9.7 million per km.
The Sindh government had expressed concern over the project because apparently the NHA was doing the patchwork at such a high cost, which it felt was not of international specification, the sources said.
According to the sources, the Sindh government had suggested that instead of doing repairs and patchwork, the authorities concerned should undertake the work according to international specification.
It may be pointed out that the federal government had not honoured its commitment with regard to converting the Karachi-Hyderabad Super Highway into six-lane expressway. The federal government had handed over the task to the NHA, but nothing had been done as yet.
Similarly, the Thatta-Hyderabad bound N-5 was also given to the NHA for upgradation but nothing had yet been done, except for the construction of the Ghagar Phattak Bridge. According to the sources, Sehwan-Rattodero section of N-5 had not yet been constructed.
