MULTAN, Dec 16: The coordination office of the Southern Punjab Basic Urban Services Project has yet to be shifted to Multan from Lahore despite the fact that Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi had directed the authorities concerned to do so immediately two months ago.

In a letter issued on Oct 12, 2005, the local government and rural development department informed the provincial finance department’s special secretary that the chief minister had also sanctioned some 40 posts, along with a special compensatory package for the SPBUS project, under the non-development budget during the current fiscal.

Funded by the Asian Development Bank, the Rs3.5 billion scheme is aimed at developing amenities of urban life like sewerage system, safe drinking water and solid waste management in 21 towns of Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Khanewal and Muzaffargarh districts of South Punjab.

The funding is in the form of loan to be provided from the ADB’s Special Fund Resources for a term of 32 years with a grace period of eight years at an interest rate of 1 per cent (within the grace period) and 1.5 per cent thereafter.

The main thrust of the project is on Multan city, having a population of 1.9 million, as Rs2.28 billion of the funds will be spent on providing facilities of urban life here, especially in the dwellings for low-income groups.

However, there is hardly any progress on this vital project as a mid-term review report is said to have expressed dissatisfaction over the pace of its execution. One of the reasons for this alleged slackness has been identified as the setting up of the project coordination office some 400 kilometres away from the targeted area.

The people at the helm have yet to announce the 40 posts the chief minister had sanctioned some two months ago for the SPBUS project. Director-General Katchi Abadis Abid Javed has also held the portfolio of SPBUS project coordinator.

Mr Javed told Dawn that the project coordination office could be shifted to Multan only when the government would appoint a full-time coordinator for it.

“My main occupation is with the department of katchi abadis, which has its headquarter in Lahore,” he said, adding “the consultants also are based in Lahore.”