A picture of delays, mismanagement

K-P chief minister tells officials to complete facility for inauguration after Eidul Azha

PESHAWAR: Over 18 months after ground for it was broken, with a budget which was more than doubled and grumblings from the provincial chief minister, the children of Peshawar are still waiting for construction on its zoo to be completed.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has failed to complete work on the Peshawar Zoo in time, with the slow pace of work drawing groans of concerns from Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan, along with Khattak, had broken ground for the zoo in February 2016.  At the time, the government had promised that the project would be completed within eight months and that the K-P government would open the zoo to the public by the end of 2016.

However, 18 months on, the project has yet to welcome exotic animals, let alone people, owing to lack of funds and other technicalities.

Talking to The Express Tribune, an official of K-P Wildlife Department who did not wish not be named, said that construction work on the zoo had been delayed for several months because the government did not release funds to the contractor.

He added that the contractor had submitted receipts for construction work to the concerned department. The receipts were then forwarded to the chief minister for approval but the latter took too long to grant approval. As a result, the contractor halted work on the project.

The officer said that after repeated requests, the executive body finally approved the receipts and released the funds, but by then it had set the project back by five to six months.

Last week, the K-P chief minister along with the K-P Assembly Speaker Assad Qasir, Senior Minister for Local Government Inayatullah Khan and PTI Provincial Spokesperson Shah Farman visited the under-construction Peshawar Zoo.

Reviewing the construction progress, or lack of, they directed the concerned department that further delays in completing the zoo would be intolerable.

“We will inaugurate the zoo after Eidul Azha and action would be taken if the zoo is not complete in all respects,” K-P Chief Minister Khattak warned the contractor and officials.

A video of Khattak’s visit to the zoo was also posted on PTI Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Social Media page showing him examining different parts of the under-construction zoo.

During the visit, Khattak also directed the concerned officials to ensure that construction work is completed in time, evergreen trees are planted, a walkway is built in the aviary, apart from a butterfly park, carnivores and other allied facilities are built in the zoo.

Khattak stated that the provincial government has already released an additional grant of Rs200 million for completing facilities at the zoo and directed the district administration for ensuring the stringent security of the facility.

“I wish that the premises of the zoo have evergreen plants and the department should do [plant them] it on the fast track,” he said.

Far from complete

Meanwhile, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Forestry, Environment and Wildlife Department Planning and Development Officer Muhammad Ali said that construction work on the zoo is in progress. He added that they have completed cages and enclosures for birds and animals.

Moreover, he noted that the project had undergone revisions over time from the initial estimates of Rs129 million which had been subsequently revised to Rs328 million turning it into a mega project.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2017.