THE NWFP government has doubled the size of its investment for improving the industrial infrastructure this year amid worsening law and order situation and poor energy supply.

Under the Annual Develop-ment Programme (ADP), devised by the ANP-led coalition government, the allocation for infrastructure projects has been increased to Rs1.24 billion from Rs566.6 million last year.

A total of 60 projects will be financed which include 24 ongoing and 36 new. These projects will get a major portion of the ADP allocation. A big part of the funding will go to improve the industrial estates’ existing infrastructure (mainly roads) and expansion of small industrial estates in Peshawar and Nowshera, procurement of land for proposed China-Pakistan Economic Zone at Hattar and the Export Trade Centre at Peshawar.

Likewise, the setting up of combined effluent treatment plants at Hattar and the Peshawar industrial estates, feasibility studies for setting up of chemical-based industries in southern areas, trucking terminal at Peshawar and an industrial estate at Kohat are also part of the new programme.

The government is attaching high priority to the industrial sector this time, says an official at the Planning and Development Department (P&DD).

The official argues that the industrial sector has great potential for creating badly needed jobs. The poverty ratio in NWFP, according to the World Bank estimates, is 38.1 per cent, the highest among the four provinces. Likewise, 39.73 per cent of the total NWFP population is civilian labour force out of which 35.04 per cent is employed. On the other hand, at the national level, 46.01 per cent of the population is in civilian labour force, of which 43.16 per cent is employed.

The rate of unemployment in NWFP is 4.7 per cent as compared to 2.85 per cent at the national level.

“The province can attract fresh investment, if its infrastructure is good enough, since it has different indigenous raw material that can help in setting up of new industries,” opines an official.

But industrial stake holders are not impressed. For them, the worsening law and order situation in the aftermath of military action going on in different parts of the province, is the major worry.

A Peshawar-based industrialist was kidnapped some three months back, and the police are still clueless about his whereabouts. This has created a sense of insecurity among the business community.

Industrialists say the situation is going from bad to worse which will result in massive transfer of investments to other provinces.

Nauman Wazir, the IAP president, says that every industrialist in HIE is paying Rs20,000 to Rs50, 000 as monthly contribution to keep in place the security system.

Poor condition of electricity and gas supply is also a major concern for the industrialists, which, they say, has not been taken up into consideration so far in the formulation of the provincial ADP.

None of the 90 grid stations in the NWFP has surplus electricity that can be supplied to the existing industrial units, he says and adds that at least 12 industries at the HIE have applied for increase in electricity load, but the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) does not have the capacity to meet their power demand.

Likewise, a number of industrial zones such as Bannu do not have proper infrastructure, which should have been focused instead of going for setting up new industrial areas.

Being at the tale-end of the gas distribution network of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), industries of the Frontier province are the most hit in winters, when public utility disrupts gas supply to balance the demand and supply gap.

To overcome this problem and ensure uninterrupted supply of gas from the nearby Shakardara and Gurguri gas fields, the provincial government had planned a separate pipeline to Peshawar some three years back. But, the project exists on papers only.

The government should have taken steps for the execution of this long-awaited project, says Mr Wazir.