Debate on budget: WB okays $580m for Dassu Dam, says Dar

Says the approval was given with 100% vote.

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday informed the National Assembly that the World Bank (WB) has approved US $580 million for the 4,500 megawatt Dasu Hydropower Project.

“Today I want to share with the nation good news that the World Bank has approved funding for the construction of the Dassu dam.

“The approval was given with a 100% vote which shows the trust of the international players in the ‘visionary leadership of premier Sharif’,” Dar said. He was sitting next to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had made a brief appearance in the house.



The programme is an important part of the transformational energy initiative of Pakistan, in which support from across the World Bank Group is focused on helping Pakistan’s energy sector out of its present crisis and onto a more sustainable path that supports economic growth, he added.

Dar claimed that during the Pakistan Peoples Party’s government, the USA had abstained from the voting process.

“No one was ready to invest in Pakistan but now we are on the way of real change and progress,” he said, adding that it was the PM’s vision that the government had started work on two most important projects simultaneously.

“With the completion of these two projects, the energy crisis in the country will be eased,” he added.

Rejecting an opposition member’s claim that all provinces other than Punjab had been neglected in the 2014-15 budget, the minister said the 4,500 MW Dasu Hydropower Project is in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), whose people will benefit from it the most.

After Dar’s announcement in the lower house, the WB also confirmed the information.

“The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved on Tuesday a financing package from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group’s grant and low-interest arm, to help expand hydro-electricity generation in Pakistan through the development of the Dasu Hydropower Stage-I Project (DHP-I).

“The package consists of an IDA Credit of $588.4 million and an IDA Partial Credit Guarantee (PCG) of $460 million to help mobilise commercial financing for the project,” said a press release issued by the bank’s media section.

PM calls it a ‘historic achievement’

According to APP, the PM Nawaz has termed the WB’s approval of US $700 Million loan for Pakistan ‘a historic achievement’.

Prime minister congratulated Ishaq Dar and said the project would lessen power shortages and help in better utilisation of water resources.  The finance minister said the World Bank’s Loans were ‘purely concessionary and cheap’.

Debate on budget

Taking part in the budget debate, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) the ruling party’s member Omar Ayub said the present government’s cogent policies have helped steer the country out of the economic crisis.

“The government has allocated sufficient resources in the budget for development projects and textile sector and this cannot be negated just by rhetoric of the opposition members,” he said.

The PPP member Ayaz Soomro urged the government to extend genuine relief to the poor and reduce the prices of essential commodities.

Abdul Rahim Mandokhel said the political parties should respect each other’s viewpoint and sit together to resolve issues faced by the country.

Highlighting the significance of education, Nafeesa Khan Khattak regretted that the education sector particularly primary education had been totally neglected in the budget.

Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the government had failed to address the electricity crisis. He said electricity should be provided to consumers at cheap rates in order to check pilferage. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2014.