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| May 15, 2005 | Sunday | Rabi-us-Sani 6, 1426 |
NWFP to spend Rs700m on uplift schemes
PESHAWAR, May 14: The NWFP government would spend an amount of Rs700 million on development schemes which would be carried out on the special directives of Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, official sources told Dawn. The sources said that the chief minister has so far issued a total of 113 directives to heads of administrative departments of the provincial government and district coordination officers of various districts for carrying out development schemes under the current financial year’s Annual Development Programme (ADP).
The schemes, according to a set of official documents, have been made part of a special package based on the chief minister’s directives issued during the first 10 months of the current financial year.
These schemes, involving small- to medium-sized development works of various types, including infrastructure development works, would be executed under ADP project number 1105 at a total cost of Rs700 million.
The 113 schemes, based on as many instructions by the chief minister, were received in the planning and development department, NWFP, and collectively involved an estimated cost of Rs570 million.
“The chief minister’s directives were passed on to the heads of the administrative departments concerned by the planning and development department on the basis of which some of the departments have also forwarded project proposals,” said an official source requesting anonymity.
The sources said that the planning department had already forwarded some 26 development schemes to the finance department, NWFP, for releasing funds to start the works.
“The finance department has released a total of Rs71 million to start execution of the 26 development schemes,” said an official source.
Mr Durrani had been informed recently by the planning and development department that it still had about Rs628 million for carrying out development schemes under ADP project number 1105.
According to the development planners, the provincial government’s decision to execute development works on the basis of the chief minister’s directives was likely to irk some of the foreign donor agencies making huge investments in the Frontier province.
The sources said that the World Bank, which is providing budgetary support to the NWFP government under its structural adjustment credit, had been opposing the government’s moves regarding execution of projects during the last two financial years.
The chief minister was apprised about the said project during a high level meeting on May 10 during which he reviewed progress of development works in the July-March period of the current financial year.
Officials, privy to the ADP’s 3rd quarter review meeting, told Dawn that the chief minister had directed the planning department to re-appropriate development funds which could not be utilized so far by the project executing agencies.
They said that Mr Durrani directed the authorities concerned that re-appropriation of funds be carried out in a manner that small schemes be released the maximum amount so that a larger number of development works could be completed before the closing of the current financial year.
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