Bottleneck: Punjab Safe Cities Project faces delay
Authority considering various options, suppliers’ credit, to start project
In a recent Regional Police Officers’ (RPO) conference, Inspector General of Punjab Police Mushtaq Sukhera had said under the safe cities project, the first integrated command and control system would start working from June 2017. PHOTO: PSCA FACEBOOK PAGE
LAHORE:
The Punjab Safe Cities Project faces implementation delay due to a shortage of funding, The Express Tribune has learnt.
In an official communiqué, Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) Managing Director Malik Ali Aamir states that the authority requires approximately $350 million to implement the project. “An allocation in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) would have been the best option to fund these projects, but....the government is focusing on the health and education sectors,” the document states.
It says that funding through multiple-donor agencies usually takes longer to finance projects partly on account of due diligence and partly because of terms and conditions of the loans.
“It is very difficult to draw conclusions due to complexities involved. Secondly, their focus is not on security-related projects. So this option may also be ruled out. Commercial lending is also not feasible due to the high interest rates,” it adds.
The PSCA has suggested suppliers’ credit as the most feasible option for the project to go forward. “The interest rate is less compared to commercial lending. The experience of the PSCA with international vendors for the execution of the Punjab Police Integrated Control Command Communication centre Lahore has shown that the Chinese companies offer the lowest costs for the technology solution. They also have experience and expertise for the execution of the projects. To attract suppliers’ credit, the potential suppliers may be invited from China and government-to-government (G2G) concessional lending may be agreed,” the document states.
The PSCA has also asked the provincial government to take up the matter with the federal government to initiate contract with the Chinese government for suppliers’ credit up to $350 million for the execution of the project that will have to be completed in the next financial year (2017-18). It has stressed the need for a G2G agreement for early completion of these projects.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is on an official visit to China these days, met representatives of Huawei on Monday and discussed various options at length with the company which won the Lahore Safe City Project bid.
Earlier, the government had announced an October 2016 deadline for completion of the Lahore Safe City Project.
In a recent cabinet meeting, the CM had announced that the project would be operational by the start of 2017. It will next be replicated in Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala.
In a recent Regional Police Officers’ (RPO) conference, Inspector General of Punjab Police Mushtaq Sukhera had said under the safe cities project, the first integrated command and control system would start working from June 2017.
An official privy to the developments told The Express Tribune that the authority was facing serious financial constraint. “The original safe city project had state-of-the-art infrastructure and technological components. However, financial constraints have forced the authority to remove central cooling and heating systems from the central building and several building automation components,” the official said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th, 2016.
The Punjab Safe Cities Project faces implementation delay due to a shortage of funding, The Express Tribune has learnt.
In an official communiqué, Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) Managing Director Malik Ali Aamir states that the authority requires approximately $350 million to implement the project. “An allocation in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) would have been the best option to fund these projects, but....the government is focusing on the health and education sectors,” the document states.
It says that funding through multiple-donor agencies usually takes longer to finance projects partly on account of due diligence and partly because of terms and conditions of the loans.
“It is very difficult to draw conclusions due to complexities involved. Secondly, their focus is not on security-related projects. So this option may also be ruled out. Commercial lending is also not feasible due to the high interest rates,” it adds.
The PSCA has suggested suppliers’ credit as the most feasible option for the project to go forward. “The interest rate is less compared to commercial lending. The experience of the PSCA with international vendors for the execution of the Punjab Police Integrated Control Command Communication centre Lahore has shown that the Chinese companies offer the lowest costs for the technology solution. They also have experience and expertise for the execution of the projects. To attract suppliers’ credit, the potential suppliers may be invited from China and government-to-government (G2G) concessional lending may be agreed,” the document states.
The PSCA has also asked the provincial government to take up the matter with the federal government to initiate contract with the Chinese government for suppliers’ credit up to $350 million for the execution of the project that will have to be completed in the next financial year (2017-18). It has stressed the need for a G2G agreement for early completion of these projects.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is on an official visit to China these days, met representatives of Huawei on Monday and discussed various options at length with the company which won the Lahore Safe City Project bid.
Earlier, the government had announced an October 2016 deadline for completion of the Lahore Safe City Project.
In a recent cabinet meeting, the CM had announced that the project would be operational by the start of 2017. It will next be replicated in Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala.
In a recent Regional Police Officers’ (RPO) conference, Inspector General of Punjab Police Mushtaq Sukhera had said under the safe cities project, the first integrated command and control system would start working from June 2017.
An official privy to the developments told The Express Tribune that the authority was facing serious financial constraint. “The original safe city project had state-of-the-art infrastructure and technological components. However, financial constraints have forced the authority to remove central cooling and heating systems from the central building and several building automation components,” the official said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th, 2016.