ISLAMABAD: The Central Develop­ment Working Party (CDWP) cleared on Monday 15 development schemes at an estimated cost of Rs99.4 billion.

These included five major projects of energy, transport and communications and physical planning worth about Rs88bn the CDWP forwarded to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) for approval.

Under the current financial powers, the CDWP can itself approve projects costing no more than Rs3bn while the projects of higher estimated costs are approved by Ecnec on technical grounds.

The CDWP meeting was presided over by Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal and attended by representatives from the provinces and federal ministries concerned.

In the energy sector, the meeting recommended to Ecnec a project of Rs8.4bn envisaging a new 200kV single-circuit, twin-bundle rail conductor transmission line. It is proposed to be constructed from Guddu to Sibi via Shikarpur and Uch power plants. It will serve as a substitute to the existing pole transmission line which has deteriorated due to completion of its useful life.

It approved construction of Gilgit Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Oncology and Radiotherapy at a cost of Rs2.3bn and Gujranwala Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy worth Rs2.39bn.

The CDWP cleared two projects of the physical planning and housing sector worth Rs37bn. These included recommendation to Ecnec for approval of the Greater Karachi Sewerage Plan worth Rs36.117bn sponsored by the government of Sindh and water distribution network for Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonments worth Rs880.5 million to be completed by December.

The meeting noted that the project was very important to reduce pollution and support the fishing department.

In the transport and communications sectors, the CDWP cleared four projects worth Rs43.8bn and requested Ecnec for their approval. These included rehabilitation, upgradation and widening of the Quetta-Dadher section of N-65 worth Rs7.3bn to increase inter-provincial access for Sindh and link some major cities with the rest of the country.

The meeting cleared construction, rehabilitation, improvement and widening of 47.93km Kalash Valley Road at a cost of Rs4.7bn.

The CDWP recommended for approval the procurement and manufacturing of 830 high-capacity bogie freight wagons and 250 passenger coaches worth Rs31.1bn.

The meeting approved construction of staff quarters for Pakistan Railways worth Rs788m.

It okayed three projects relating to the governance sector at a cost of Rs1.65bn.

The CDWP approved Sustainable Development Goals Unit in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a cost of Rs600m to help translate the SDGs framework into concrete plans and interventions at the provincial and district level planning by establishing short- and medium-term goals rather than only having end point targets.

The meeting approved institutional strengthening and efficiency enhancement of the Planning Commission with a cost of Rs350m.

The project is expected to help enhance the capacity and performance of regular staff through incentive schemes by selecting quality human resource and accommodate increased level of manpower hired under the CPEC and Vision 2025.

It cleared a project worth Rs700m to improve and expand the existing PSDP-financed projects monitoring system and to undertake external monitoring of development projects to ensure that the investments made in the public sector were being put to effective use as planned.

The CDWP approved a Science Talent Farming Scheme for undergraduate students in the education sector worth Rs2.9bn. The project aims at grooming and capacity building of young students in natural science and mathematics.

The meeting deferred the decision on the National Pesticide Residues Monitoring System worth Rs739m.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2017