Rs3b cities programme gets green light

Initiative aims to improve economic potential, governance, management and service delivery in selected cities

LAHORE: The Punjab Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) has approved the Punjab Cities Programme local government development scheme worth Rs3.058 billion.

The scheme was approved during the ninth meeting of the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) in the current fiscal year.

Planning and Development (P&D) Board Chairman Habibur Rehman Gilani presided over the meeting. Punjab P&D Secretary Imran Sikandar Baloch, all members of the board, provincial secretaries of departments concerned and other senior representatives of the relevant provincial departments attended the meeting.

The Punjab Cities Programme – TA Component (Umbrella PC-I) aimed to improve the economic potential, governance, management and service delivery in selected cities. These cities included Okara, Jaranwala, Gojra, Jhang, Kamalia, Muridke, Hafizabad, Kamoki, Daska, Wazirabad, Jhelum, Vehari, Burewala, Khanewal, Bahawalnagar and Kot Addu.

It also included 16 municipal committees, except those falling under the World Bank-funded Punjab Cities Governance Improvement Project (PCGIP) and ADB-funded Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Program (PICIIP).

According to the Punjab Local Government and Community Development Department, key features of the programme include the use of hybrid investment project financing and programme for better results.

It will support the provincial government to design and operationalise a performance-cased grants (PBGs) mechanism and test in 16 municipal committees as a pilot project. Based on the experience gained and lessons learnt, the mechanism would be scaled up to other local governments across Punjab.

The programme will provide PBGs based on results achieved by the municipal committees against the disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs), besides supporting provincial government agencies like the Finance Department, Local Government and Community Development Department, Local Government Board and Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company. It will also support the selected municipal committees with technical assistance and institutional strengthening.

The programme has an inbuilt mechanism of performance evaluation for accessing the PBGs, and failure to satisfy preconditions will disqualify the municipal committee from accessing the PBGs that year. The programme will challenge and encourage municipal committees to raise their performance to achieve incremental targets.

It will help in strengthening various functions and enhance the capacities of the selected municipal committees related to investment planning and budgeting; human resources; own-source revenues, procurement, financial management and audit, environment and social management; transparency and accountability and urban infrastructure.

Several government departments, including the Local Government and Community Development, Finance Department, Punjab Local Government Board, Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company and selected municipal committees, will jointly implement the programme and evaluate various performance indicators for its success.

In collaboration with donor agencies, like the World Bank and the ADB, the provincial government has already initiated similar programmes – PCGIP and PICIIP – to improve the quality of life of residents living in the selected cities of Punjab. The programmes aim to transform the intermediate cities into urban centers which are more efficient, accountable and serve as an engine of economic growth and sustainable development.

The programmes were launched to achieve urban development challenges at the urban level, including city integrated planning, improved institutional framework for urban services, strengthened business processes of utilities and improved urban infrastructure and services. The government envisions cities provided with upgraded sustainable infrastructure and connectivity for faster economic growth. Other targets are higher productivity with opportunity for inclusive growth and sustained quality of life for citizens. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2019.