ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday said the delay on the establishment of an information technology (IT) park in the capital was at the end of the Korean Exim Bank which was to provide a loan of $76 million for the project.

“There has been a change in the management in Exim Bank which has caused delay in progress on the technology park,” a government official told the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology which met to discuss public sector development projects.

However, the members regretted that no groundwork had been started on the project initiated in 2016 to develop a purpose-built technology park.

“More than Rs70 million have been spent between 2016 and 2018 and the government has not been able to erect the boundary wall around the 47 acres dedicated for the park,” said MQM Senator Mian Mohammad Ateeq Shaikh.

Expressing concerns over the delay, Chairperson of the committee Senator Rubina Khalid complained to Minister for Information Technology Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui that the committee had held 18 meetings in one year but not a single project had been completed satisfactorily.

She also complained about unsatisfactory responses from the ministry to quarries by the committee. The minister assured the committee that he would look into the issue.

The members also alleged improper utilisation of funds in the Universal Service Fund (USF) in the last five years.

“USF funds have not being utilised according to the mandate. We want complete record of how these funds have been used in the last five years,” said Senator Kalsoom Parveen.

The USF, under the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, was set up to spread cellular and broadband services in un-served and under-served areas in the country.

Cellular operators invested in areas earmarked by the government after assessing the business and growth prospects.

The members complained that despite sufficient funding to spread cellular and broadband services, most areas were still under-served. They demanded that the cellular companies be asked to introduce services in towns and cities where people still did not have access to cellular and internet services.

However, Member Enforcement Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Khawar Siddique Khokhar explained that the government could not force operators to go to locations where they did not see a business case under their licence agreements.

Despite detailed information provided by the ministry and senior officials of the USF about projects to spread telephony countrywide, the committee has been asking for complete details of how the money in the USF was being spent.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2019