ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CWDP) on Tuesday cleared three development projects of Rs76.5 billion in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh.
The meeting of the CDWP presided over by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal through a video link from Saudi Arabia, approved two projects of about Rs7.1bn and cleared another project of Rs69.4bn for formal approval by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).
While taking up the three projects related to the Ministry of Communication and the provinces, the CDWP referred Rs69.44bn worth of KP Rural Accessibility Project to the Ecnec and approved the construction of a six-lane overhead bridge at Imamia Colony Railway Crossing Shahdara, Punjab at the cost of Rs3.958bn with a condition that the National Highway Authority will charge toll tax after the construction. The Ministry of Communication is the sponsoring agency of the project.
Ecnec also approved Sindh Health Support Programme at the cost of Rs3.097bn. The provincial government of Sindh is the sponsoring agency of the project. The project envisaged localising the National Universal Health Coverage Benefit Package in 13 districts of Sindh.
The Rs69.44bn KP Rural Accessibility Project is part of a $300 million World Bank-funded project to improve safe and climate-resilient rural accessibility to schools, health facilities and markets in selected districts of KP.
The loan was extended during the Covid-19 crisis and remains in place to improve access to schools and healthcare facilities through all-weather rural roads for human capital development in KP.
Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2023
