ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Wednesday cleared a total of seven development projects at an estimated cost of Rs142 billion.

A meeting of the CDWP presided over by Minister for Planning and Development Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar deferred the Rs65bn mass transit project for Karachi.

It was the first meeting of the CDWP after a gap of about six months. The gap is reported to have caused a significant loss to the nation on external account because it dried up fresh flows of project-related funds from multilateral lenders.

The interim government of retired Justice Nasirul Mulk had tried to call meetings of the CDWP to clear foreign-funded projects, but then finance minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar was stopped at the eleventh hour by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

In the absence of project approval by the Pakistani authorities, the development partners could not take up approval of many projects.

Cost of Peshawar mass transit project rises by 38pc

The meeting cleared three major projects, including Rs68bn Peshawar Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) and Rs67.5bn Lahore Water and Wastewater Management, and referred them to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) for formal approval because of limited financial powers.

Under the existing financial rules, the CDWP can only approve projects having maximum cost of Rs3bn and is required to refer the projects of higher cost to Ecnec after clearing them on technical grounds.

The CDWP formally approved five projects with a total cost of about Rs6.93bn.

In the transport and communication section, the CDWP referred the project of Peshawar Sustainable Bus Rapid Transit Corridor with a revised cost of Rs67.953bn — up by 38pc from its original approved cost of Rs49.3bn. The project aims at high-quality mass transit for Peshawar to trigger urban development, activities and density along the BRT corridor, improving economic growth and giving access to the city.

The Peshawar BRT’s cost was revised to Rs56.8bn and presented in May last year to the CDWP which did not clear cost increase. The project currently under implementation involves Rs48bn loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and would cover 25.8km-long road track, 32 stations with commercial buildings and other allied facilities.

The project, originally planned to be executed in 12 months, is already beyond schedule and is expected to facilitate 472,000 people per day in its initial phase. It starts from Chamkani on GT Road and terminates at Karkhano Market on Jamrood Road. It was started in December last year for completion in one year, but is now expected to be completed in March 2019.

Another mega project cleared by the CDWP in the physical planning and housing sector was the Lahore Water and Wastewater Management scheme worth Rs67.50bn and referred to Ecnec for approval.

The CDWP did not clear BRT Red Line Karachi worth Rs65.6bn in the transport and communication sector for the time being in the absence of proper documentation. The Sindh government is planning to construct this project with the help of the ADB to connect Model Colony with Numaish Chowrangi via University Road.

In the agriculture and food section, the CDWP approved a project for upgrade of Arid Zone Research Centre and establishment of New Adaptive Research-Cum-Demonstration Institute. The Rs691.564 million project will focus on poverty alleviation through introduction of improved agricultural technologies in the rehabilitant environment of the project areas. It will also strengthen linkages between provincial and international research organisations.

In the energy sector, a 220kV Head Faqirian substation along with 220kV double circuit transmission lines from Head Faqirian to Ludewala, Punjab, was forwarded to Ecnec for approval. The Rs5.5bn project aims to improve the power supply system.

In the health sector, the CDWP approved a project for strengthening of monitoring and surveillance of health systems at a cost of Rs157.790m.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2018