ISLAMABAD: The Central Develop­ment Working Party (CDWP) cleared on Friday 10 development projects having an estimated cost of about Rs39 billion, including a rapid transport system for Karachi.

The projects were cleared at a meeting of the CDWP, presided over by Minister for Planning and Develop­ment, Ahsan Iqbal.

Also read: Rs28bn released for development projects

It approved eight projects having total cost of Rs20.174bn and referred two others, envisaging a cost of Rs18.63bn, to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for approval.

CDWP defers approval of eight schemes

The meeting deferred approval of eight projects worth Rs35.7bn because of different deficiencies.

The CDWP has the powers to approve development projects costing up to Rs3bn whereas it recommends projects beyond Rs3bn cost to the ECNEC after clearing them on technical and financial grounds.

Know more: Karachi to Lahore motorway project approved

The meeting questioned the Rs15.4bn cost of the Green Line Bus Rapid Transit System project and referred it to the ECNEC for approval after cost rationalisation. The 21-km transport facility in Karachi will originate from Saddar and, via M.A Jinnah Road, Business Recorder Road, Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road, Shahrah-i-Shershah Suri and Shahrah-i-Usman, end at Powerhouse Chowrangi in Surjani Town. The two-lane signal-free rapid bus system will benefit about 400,000 passengers every day.

The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs27.6bn, including Rs5.6bn of foreign aid. About Rs12bn is estimated to be the cost of land and allied facilities to be provided by the Sindh government.

The minister asked the executing agencies to reduce the implementation schedule from 22 months for the signature project of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for Karachi. “The period of completion of the project must be minimised, as desired by the prime minister, because he wants to see this projected completed in the shortest possible time,” he said.

The project is being funded by the federal government as a gift for people of Karachi, Mr Iqbal added.

He directed the executing agencies to incorporate traditional yellow stone architecture while designing the bus stations to revive the traditional identity of the city.

The meeting approved Rs3.2bn for machine readable passport and visa service to be operational by Dec 31 to facilitate overseas Pakistanis. “The project approval will be revoked if the commitment is not fulfilled. Overseas Pakis­tanis earn precious foreign ex­cha­nge and should not be made to wait in long queues,” Mr Iqbal said.

While deferring approval of eight projects, he said that no project could be considered unless clear key performance indicators were mentioned in its documents. “A project has to be specific, measureable, quantifiable and time-bound to gauge its outcome,” he said.

RESCUE 1122: The approval of the project of the establishment of emergency services “Rescue 1122” for Islamabad was deferred because of its higher cost when compared to “Rescue 1122” in Punjab. The authorities concerned were directed to integrate “Rescue 1122” and the Capital Development Authority rescue service for better delivery to people.

The meeting approved Rs289.6bn for change of base of national accounts from 2005-06 to 2015-16. Besides, the project also includes change of price indices from 2007-08 to 2015-16 to ensure better contribution among all economic sectors and sub-sectors of national economy in terms of size and volume of GDP.

Another Rs10bn project of land records management and information systems and Rs83 million water supply schemes for Baradar, Budhall, Poodnial and Oghi areas in Mansehra district, were also approved.

The meeting approved Rs456m for construction of Fata headquarters building at Peshawar. It approved construction of a road from Chandore Sharif to Haripur via Lassan Adda and Palsala Jhokan in Mansehra district at a cost of Rs105m.

The meeting also approved a Rs3bn project of rehabilitation and widening of 31km Khwazkhela-Besham road in Alipuri-Besham section of N-90 highway in the earthquake-hit area.

The CDWP approved a Rs1.8b project for repair of 800 passenger coaches and 200 train carriages in the railway workshop in Mughalpura, Lahore.

It also approved revised cost of Rs4.4bn for construction of a bridge across River Chenab to link Shorkot with Garh Maharaja.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2014