October 20, 2008	Monday	Shawwal 20, 1429

PESHAWAR, Oct 19: Despite provision of funds by the government, the Pakistan Stone Development Company (Pasdec) has yet to complete the marble city project in the Mohmand tribal region.

According to officials and stakeholders, establishment of the proposed marble city in Mohmand, 28 kilometres north of Peshawar, was a joint venture of the Fata Development Authority (FDA) and the Pasdec, a subsidiary of the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation. It aimed at exploring the vast deposits of marble and granite in the tribal region. The much-publicised project was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2007, but it lingers on and its future hangs in the balance.

Officials in the FDA said that money had been paid to the concerned agencies for land acquisition, construction of approach road and provision of electricity to the proposed city, but they were not sure about commission of the project.

Mohammad Yaqub Shah, general manager (minerals) FDA, said that insurgency in the area was one of the major factors which had caused delay in the execution of the proposed city despite the fact that it was the safest site for the project.

“Consultants have been acquired for designing model of the city, but political authorities are not allowing engineers to visit the site due to security reasons,” he said.

However, stakeholders and officials rejected contentions of the FDA official. “The project needs an efficient agency and well thought out strategy,” remarked Numan Wazir, president Industrialists Association Peshawar. He said that insurgency was an excuse for delaying the project.

The Pasdec was also partner with the NWFP government to establish another marble city in Nowshera but that project had not been executed. He said that land had been acquired for a marble city in Risalpur about a year ago.

“Only topographic survey for the marble city in Mohmand area took almost two years,” he said. The government had planned to establish the marble city project about three years ago in Mohmand to explore some 700 million tones of super white, silky and grey marble deposits in Mohmand, Khyber and Bajaur regions.

Officials said that one million tones of marble were being excavated from the Fata annually. They estimated that 70 per cent of the marbles was wasted due to use of unscientific methods of exploration and the products could not compete in the international market.

The project was handed over to the Pasdec and a memorandum of understanding was signed with the FDA in February last year. Under the project 200 marble processing units would be installed in the proposed city and officials claimed that 140 local and foreign parties had submitted applications for plot acquisition.

Officials said that some 200 acres land had been acquired for the project and Rs108 million had been released to the political administration for onward payment to the landowners.