ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: The Planning Commission on Tuesday stated that the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) had “conceptually cleared” eight projects including the Diamer-Bhasha, Kalabagh and Akhori dams.
Official news agency APP quoted a Planning Commission spokesman, Asif Sheikh, as saying at a ‘press conference’, after the CDWP meeting that “eight other projects were also conceptually cleared”. These included Diamer-Bhasha dam (Rs370.709 billion) Kalabagh dam (Rs370.502 billion) and Akhori dam (Rs266.140 billion).
However, there is confusion if the decision was actually taken at the meeting because media personnel who had been briefed after the CDWP meeting on Monday by Senior Joint Secretary Shahnawaz Husain on the instructions of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Akram Sheikh, were told that concept clearance of the three mega dams had been withheld to wait for the assessment committee headed by Water and Power Secretary Ashfaq Mehmood to submit its report.
Mr Husain said the meeting had felt that it would be duplication of work since the funding and financing arrangement was one of the objectives defined in the terms of reference of the assessment committee.
Sources in the Planning Commission said no press conference had taken place in the commission on Tuesday. A statement had been issued to news organisations for a press briefing at 11am on Monday which was rescheduled to 2:30pm but that too was cancelled.
Mr Husain was specifically asked at the briefing on Monday whether the issues of financing and concept clearance would now be considered by the CDWP or by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec). He responded that the matter had been referred to the assessment committee which would suggest how to move forward.
Additional Chief Secretary Sindh Ghulam Sarwar Khero told Dawn from Karachi on telephone on Tuesday that the three projects -- Kalabagh, Akhori and Diamer -Bhasha dams -- were not taken up separately for discussion by the CDWP although all the three were separate items on the agenda. Hence, the question of their clearance did not arise because each and every item is discussed and debated threadbare before a decision is taken. When they were not discussed, project by project, how could these have been cleared.
He said that when the issue of concept clearance came up he suggested that since the CDWP had appointed a committee and financing arrangement was among the terms of reference of the committee, the CDWP should wait for the report of the committee.
At this, he said, views of other participants were sought and representatives of Balochistan and the NWFP supported this suggestion and the chair decided to wait for recommendations of the assessment committee, consider them and move further.
He said the government of Sindh would wait for the minutes of the CDWP meeting and then take a position on the subject in writing to correct the record.
Meanwhile, he said, his government would raise the issue at the meeting of the assessment committee on December 4. He said the committee headed by secretary Ashfaq Mehmood was required to discuss five issues -- including environment assessment, sequencing of the five dams, land acquisition, funding requirement and arrangements and implementation strategy.
He said that a unanimous decision of the Ecnec taken in 2004, envisaged that no PC-1 of any project would be considered in future by the government without the environment impact assessment report and added that environment impact report of none of the above project was available.
He said President Pervez Musharraf had announced that smaller provinces had reservations over some of the dams and hence ordered to start work on the Bhasha dam and then personally tried to convince people in Sindh and the NWFP over Kalabagh dam, but some quarters were trying to give a different impression.
