LAHORE: The government has decided to develop a monitoring mechanism to ensure quality assurance and transparency in several foreign-funded projects worth nearly Rs291bn.

The execution of the projects (some of them already underway), assigned to the Water and Sanitation Agencies (WASAs) of Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan, would be strictly monitored by two special monitoring cells, Dawn has learnt.

“Currently, there is no mechanism to monitor the development projects, especially the foreign-funded ones. Therefore, we have decided to form two special monitoring cells—one will ensure a smooth and transparent bidding process and the second to ensure quality assurance and timely completion of the projects. Both cells will be headed by senior officers,” reveals retired Capt Noorul Amin Mengal, the secretary of Housing, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering Department.

“Besides this an internal accountability board would also be constituted soon to control corruption within the department,” he added.

So far, there is no monitoring system to check corruption in uplift projects

According to a document available with Dawn, the projects, which would be executed by Lahore Wasa include Rs50.2bn project for the construction of wastewater treatment plant (Babu Sabu, Lahore), Rs23.5bn scheme for similar plant at Kattar Bund (Lahore), Rs32.2bn scheme related to surface water treatment plant at the BRBD canal and nearly Rs50bn Sewerage System from Larechs Colony to Gulshan-i-Ravi (trench-less technology, using tunnel boring machines).

These four projects worth over Rs155bn are pledged to be funded by the international funding agencies, including AFD (France), DANIDA (Denmark) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). At the moment, the projects are passing through government approvals.

The tendering process is expected to start soon. The project to be implemented by Wasa (Faisalabad) include extension of water resources for Faisalabad city (phase-II) worth nearly Rs15bn, construction of eastern wastewater treatment plant of Faisalabad city (phase-1) worth Rs56bn, Rs7.8bn project for construction of distribution centre and rehabilitation of Jhal Khanuana water treatment plant and Ravi Road Eco Revitalization Project worth Rs48.2bn. Among the aforementioned ones, the construction work on the old Jhal Khanuana water treatment plant is underway at the moment. The total cost of these projects is Rs126.8bn whereas their funding agencies are AFD (France), Danida, JICA and ADB.

A Rs3.9bn project for capacity building and institutional reforms would also be executed jointly by Lahore and Faisalabad WASAs. It would be funded by AFD (France) under an EU grant. A project worth Rs1.9bn (funded by JICA) being implemented by Multan Wasa at the moment is an upgrade of the mechanical system and drainage.

Another project for Wasa Multan for establishment of flood disaster prevention master plan worth Rs2.8bm would be funded by KOICA (South Korea).

The secretary said a grievance redress committee would also be notified in the next couple of days to resolve the issues related to procurement in civic agencies.

According to him, in an important meeting held recently, a go-ahead for the appointment of managing directors (MDs) for establishment of 10 more WASAs in Punjab has also been given to the respective authorities. The WASAs would be established in the cities of Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Sargodha, Sahiwal, Okara, Rahim Yar Khan, Jhang, Jhelum, Sialkot and Hafiazabad.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2025