Punjab’s inertia draws World Bank ire

Global lender set to fine provincial govt for failing to utilise $200m loan to launch the initiative

LAHORE:

The World Bank is set to fine the Punjab government for failing to utilise a $200 million loan meant for the province’s Green Development Programme, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The programme, which aims to strengthen environmental governance and promote green investments in Pakistan’s most populous province, was launched in 2018. Under the agreement signed between the global lender and the Punjab government, the programme is supposed to run until 2023.

But almost halfway into its intended lifespan, Punjab authorities have struggled to launch the programme and have failed to utilise the WB loan granted for this purpose.

“Five environment department secretaries have been replaced over the last two years for failing to implement the programme,” an official told The Express Tribune. “The failure has prompted the World Bank to impose a fine of $200,000, which will be deducted from the principal amount of the loan,” he said. “The Auditor General of Pakistan, while also raising objections on the non-implementation of the programme, has called for collecting the fine from the sacked environment department top officers.”

According the official, there is some forward movement now that Environment Secretary Zahid Hussain has started overseeing the programme. “At the request of the Punjab environment department, the duration of the programme has been extended by two years as well,” he said.

Sources said WB has also released the second tranche of $25 million to assist in implementation. “The government has formed an implementation unit comprised of highly capable senior officers,” another official said. “No one though of doing this in the past two years,” he added.

“We have started work on all Green Development Programme schemes, despite the risk presented by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Environment Secretary Zahid Hussain told The Express Tribune. “We have submitted a quarterly and full year plan to the World Bank. Now there is no obstacle in the implementation of this important program,” he said, adding that the PC-1 for the programme had been sent to the Planning and Development department.

The entire programme is expected cost around $273 million or Rs45 billion, sources said. According to them, in addition to the loan, in addition to the loan, the global lender is also providing and $50 million for an environment endowment fund. The Punjab government is also investing $50 million on its own.

Under the programme, 30 air quality monitoring centers will be set up in different cities in the province. At present, the province has only nine such centres. The province will also construct 15 water stations to assess the quality of water in the rivers and streams that flow through the province. This initiative is expected to cost around Rs800 million. The government is also looking to build a green building in Lahore for Rs300 million along with pushing green initiatives in the industrial, financial and energy sectors.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2020.