November 01, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 19, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Oct 31: Representatives of mega projects’ victims Wednesday urged World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick, who is currently visiting Pakistan, not to fund economically, environmentally and socially infeasible projects in the country.

They argued that it has been proved that the project executing agencies lack capacity to deliver in terms of time, cost and above of all, have failed in resettling hundreds of thousands of population displaced due to these projects.

Pakistan Network for Rivers, Dams and People (PNRDP), central secretariat of which is housed at Sungi Development Foundation, here demanded that the WB president should remain cautious and ensure voice of stakeholders, specially direct and indirect affected persons of any mega infrastructure project in Pakistan, heard at the planning, designing and implementation stage.

Mr Zoellick along with senior officials of the bank arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday on a two-day visit to hold talks with the government. Along with reviewing the performance of more than 50 projects worth $7 billion being executed, he would also hold talks on funding the new mega projects in Pakistan.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, PNRDP Coordinator Ejaz Khan said that construction of dams and mega infrastructure projects had become a debated issue in Pakistan but majority mega projects like Tarbela Dam, Ghazi Barotha, Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) had failed to deliver in terms of resettling and rehabilitating victims despite promises.

“No doubt mega infrastructure projects set a benchmark for the development of a country but a fair assessment of the functioning of such projects brings forth the real picture of benefit and loss to the people,” he said.