Govt okays funds for coastal area survey

Economic policymakers have approved funds for the launch of a hydrographic survey of coastal areas in a bid to stop smuggling by setting aside concerns of the Finance Division.

The Finance Division had said that it had no funds to provide for conducting the survey. It argued that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs should arrange funds from its own budgetary allocation. According to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Prime Minister Imran Khan had constituted an anti-smuggling committee on July 2, 2019 with the minister for interior and minister for maritime affairs as convener and coconvener respectively.

The prime minister also approved, in principle, in a meeting of the anti-smuggling committee on October 17, 2019, to take services of the Pakistan Army for assisting the Ministry of Maritime Affairs in the survey of coastal areas. It was directed to work out details in consultation with the respective stakeholders. It was also directed to send a separate summary to the Prime Minister’s Office detailing the cost of survey of coastal areas. The maritime affairs ministry moved a summary for prime minister’s approval on April 22, 2020 through the Ministry of Interior and Finance Division.

The prime minister approved the recommendation but the Finance Division recommended that the ministry arrange requisite funds from its own budgetary allocation. The Finance Division had allocated Rs1,157 million to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs for financial year 2020-21, which did not include the cost of hydrographic survey estimated at Rs190.47 million. The budgetary amount had been distributed amongst all units of the ministry according to their approved budget ceiling. Accordingly, the Finance Division was requested to allocate the requisite funds over and above the budget estimate for 2020-21 as the Ministry of Maritime Affairs had no extra funds to finance the survey of coastal areas.

The Finance Division argued that the request for additional funds could not be processed at a belated stage since the budgetary process for the allocation of funds had already been completed and approved by the National Assembly. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs said the survey of coastal areas had strategic significance. It would become a vital component of the anti-smuggling drive. The ministry said a summary had been moved to the prime minister in September this year with the request that the Finance Division be directed to release Rs190.47 million from its lump sum provision in favour of the Maritime Affairs Division. It pointed out that the prime minister directed that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs should submit a summary to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet for approval of a technical supplementary grant for the proposed survey of coastal areas. The ministry then requested the ECC to approve Rs190.47 million as the technical supplementary grant for the survey, which the ECC approved in its meeting held on October 28.