The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Thursday cleared seven development projects worth Rs115.80 billion in a meeting held under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal.
The projects were related to the Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Housing and Works, Ministry of Planning and the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
The development schemes included the National Programme Post-Flood Reconstruction: Climate Resilience Enhancement in Balochistan and Other Provinces at a cost of Rs88 billion, Strengthening of Labs in 5 Leading Universities – UET Peshawar, Taxila, Lahore, Khuzdar and NED Karachi – at a cost of Rs6.636 billion and National Sports City at Narowal (Revised Third PC) at a cost of Rs5.760 billion.
Other schemes were Yarik-Tank Road, DI Khan Development Package at a cost of Rs4.418 billion, Competitive Grants Programme for Policy-Oriented Research at a cost of Rs1.756 billion, Improvement/ Widening of Spera Ragha Road From Kanozai Cross to Loralai Kila Saifullah Road at a cost of Rs6.136 billion and Innovation Centre and Innovation Park at UET Lahore Sub-campus at a cost of Rs2.966 billion.
The planning ministry is the sponsoring agency of the National Programme Post-Flood Reconstruction: Climate Resilience Enhancement in Balochistan and Other Provinces.
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The project will consist of four components which include rehabilitation and reconstruction of community infrastructure including irrigation, drainage, flood protection, roads, WASH and other community facilities; reconstruction of damaged housing units; livelihood support, natural resources and watershed management; and institutional strengthening and reform units.
“Balochistan has been hit hard by the devastating floods and the provincial government faces financial constraints and can’t finance post-flood recovery and rehabilitation efforts on its own,” said Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, while approving the project.
The federal government has decided to obtain a loan from the World Bank and provide Balochistan as grant-in-aid.
“We want to assure the people of Balochistan that the federal government stands with them in this time of crisis and is committed to taking all possible steps to address the pressing socio-economic issues,” remarked the minister.
CDWP approved the construction of National Sports City at Narowal (revised third PC). The Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination is the sponsoring agency while Pakistan Sports Board will execute the project.
Under the project, an international standard sports complex having facilities for all games will be constructed at the third revised cost of Rs5.760 billion.
All infrastructure and facilities will be at par with the international standards and capable of holding international, regional and national-level championships and sports events for almost all indoor and outdoor games.
The revised project consists of construction of a cricket stadium with pavilion and seating area, football ground with athletic track, pavilion and seating arrangement, hockey ground with synthetic turf and seating capacity, squash courts with seating steps, two tennis courts, one volleyball court, gymnasium, one basketball court, Kabbadi court and covered swimming pool with allied facilities, mosque and others.
The project was close to completion in 2017 but the previous government stopped it and as a result its cost increased from Rs2.994 billion to Rs5.760 billion.
The minister stressed that responsibility should be fixed against those who deliberately delayed the project, which caused a huge loss to the national exchequer. He asked the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination to complete remaining work on the project so that inauguration could be made possible in March 2023.
Under the project titled Strengthening of Labs in 5 Leading Universities – UET Peshawar, Taxila, Lahore, Khuzdar and NED Karachi, the key objective is to upgrade the lab equipment for the students of engineering universities by providing modern and updated equipment, which will lead to improvement in research and development work.
The planning minister directed the HEC to engage a procurement consultant for the equipment to be used in labs and said every university must ensure proper maintenance of the equipment.
He was of the view that every engineering university should make a five-year roadmap in line with global practices.
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