Sindh Assembly: Where have the funds gone, ask MPAs

Lawmakers share their frustration over delays in development work.

KARACHI: An emotionally charged Sardar Ahmed Ali Pitafi of the Pakistan Peoples Party struggled to understand on Tuesday why funds were not being released for the development schemes in his district. "Please punish me if I have made a mistake, not my voters. Why are funds not being released for my development schemes for the last two years?"

He posed this question during the Sindh Assembly session which was all about the funds announced but never released. "I have been a dedicated worker of the PPP since its existence. Why do you punish me and my voters by not releasing the budget?" asked Pitafi. This is the third consecutive year in which Pitafi, the PPP's district Ghotki president, has berated the Sindh government for its indifferent attitude.

On the record(s)

During the discussion on utilisation of the provincial development budget, the members of ruling and opposition parties expressed their concern over "inadequate" development in their areas. The Sindh chief minister, however, claimed to have broken all the past records in terms of development schemes initiated by his government.

"Records might have broken on paper, but reality speaks otherwise. For the last three years, many development schemes in my constituency have been in doldrums. I have protested at every forum and registered complaints with my party's leadership, but no one has paid heed," Pitafi said while speaking to the media outside the assembly. "It appears that I am being punished because of my bold stance on various issues and because I point out the flaws in the party's policy."

Show me the money

The discussion on budget started after Muttahida Qaumi Movement's MPA Heer Ismail Soho moved an adjournment motion, requesting the speaker to adjourn other proceedings of the session and instead discuss the budgetary process and its utilisation in the last seven months.

In her opening remarks, Soho said that the development budget was allocated for 14 different water and sanitations schemes in her constituency [Thatta district] in 2012-13, but "zero" per cent work has started so far. "We had high hopes that our educated and energetic finance advisor, Murad Ali Shah, would bring a drastic change but we are really puzzled with his performance," she said, adding that basic health centres and schools were non-functional in her areas while roads were in a dilapidated condition. "I don't know how and where this budget is being spent."

Nusrat Seher Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League - Functional was of the view that the PPP ministers and elected representative were only focusing on their own areas and neglecting the opposition members and their constituencies.  "The infrastructure of Sanghar and its surrounding areas is in shambles. The government is not taking initiatives over there because these areas belong to Pir Pagara," she said. "Every year, a major chunk of the budget is unaccounted for -- how can development take place under such circumstances?"

MQM members, including Khawaj Izhaarul Hassan, Syed Sardar Ahmed and Zafar Kamali, redirected the attention of the House to the local government elections, saying it was the only solution to solve people's basic problems.

No answers, more promises

Defending the government, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said that the PPP had set new precedents of development work in the last six years. "We have allocated around Rs185 billion out of which Rs60 billion has so far been utilised." According to him, the provincial government had regained the trust of foreign donors, as evident from the loans by the USAID and Asian Development Banks for education and agriculture sectors. He claimed that the provincial government was committed to building the infrastructure in Sanghar and Mirpurkhas where a network of roads worth billions of rupees was being laid down. He also assured that local government elections would be held "once the apex court orders."