MARDAN: The speakers at a workshop here on Tuesday urged the government and foreign donors to take ‘result-oriented’ steps to develop Mardan district along modern lines.

The event was jointly organised by the Cities Development Initiative for Asia in collaboration with the district government at a local hotel to bring together stakeholders to identify a vision for Mardan city as well as services and investments needs to implement it.

Currently, the CDIA funded by the governments of Singapore, Germany and other countries, along with the Asian Development Bank is supporting the KP government in preparing 15 years development plans for the cities of Peshawar, Mardan and Abbottabad. Initially, $100 million has been allocated for the initiative.

Among participants of the ‘consultative workshop’ were representatives of the government, civil society, academia, businesses and minority groups, the people with disabilities and journalists.

District nazim Hayatullah Mayar and deputy commissioner Dr Imran Hamid Sheikh were also in attendance. The nazim said Mardan was an unplanned city as it had grown to its current shape from two villages over the decades. He said the city faced many challenges due to a lack of proper town planning.

“Mardan needs to be developed in a planned manner to address its many issues. This is the right time for the CDIA to support the local government and people for it,” he said.

CDIA team leader Azim Manji said there was a need for focusing more on improvement of service delivery instead of merely providing infrastructure to ensure sustainable development. He said the event was held to know about the local communities see their city in future.

The CDIA team leader said the group discussions primarily focused on improved access to education, healthcare, and water and sanitation services and strengthening of law, justice and accountability systems.

The deputy commissioner said foreign investments were paving the way for Mardan’s development along modern lines to the benefit of the local residents. He said the investments would be based on local priorities.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2017