PSDP spending blitz: Govt set to launch seven major projects

Lahore-Karachi motorway, Pakistan Railways and Diamer-Bhasha dam figure on priority list .

LAHORE:

A high-level committee formed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to evaluate development schemes has given the green light for launch of seven mega projects in the country, The Express Tribune has learnt.

In an effort to effectively organise last quarter’s development spending, the premier last month formed a six-member committee to evaluate and review schemes of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

Sources privy to the matter told The Express Tribune that the team – comprising Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Saud Majeed from Punjab, MNA Captain (retd) Muhammad Safder from Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, MNA Dr Darshan from Sindh and Minister for State on Petroleum and Natural Resources Jam Kamal from Balochistan – has given the go-ahead for a last quarter spending blitz.

After nearly 50 days of deliberation, the committee has formulated a plan of action and is set to present a preliminary report to the premier for approval today (Monday).

“The federal government, which has kept Rs540 billion for last quarter, out of a total Rs1,155 billion PSDP for the fiscal year 2013/2014, did not satisfy Nawaz as it was prepared by bureaucrats without a proper strategy,” said one committee member.

Committee members said they were authorised to prepare a plan for the prime minister which will enable him to announce development schemes in the next four months. The team’s evaluation includes an efficient plan for reallocation of funds from slow and unnecessary schemes to mega projects, in a bid to spare the PSDP superfluous spending.

It chalked out how the government can evade pressure from MNAs demanding development schemes in their constituencies, as well as prioritise projects in communication and energy sectors. The report also entails details of embezzlement of allocated amounts in ongoing schemes.

Motorways and railways

On the direction of the prime minister, the committee has spared funds from the federal PSDP for seven mega projects for the province which will be initiated by the federal government.

It has set out how Nawaz will acquire land and award contracts for the construction of a Lahore-Karachi Motorway, with China, the Bank of Punjab and members of the international community as financiers.

For the Pak-China economic corridor, the government will construct an Islamabad-Havelian motorway, whereas China will build a 4,000-kilometre stretch of road from Havelian to China.

It will also start the construction of the M8 motorway from Balochistan which will connect the province to other links. Construction of Lowari tunnel as well as Kachi Canal till Dera Bugti to DG Khan is also on the agenda.

The Pakistan Railways revamp is also on the government’s development laundry list, and will require construction of complete two-way tracks from Lahore to Karachi as it currently stands incomplete at Lodhran to Karachi. They also hope to convert rusty locomotives into workable, efficient machines.

Diamer Bhasha Dam

The government is set to acquire land for Bhasha dam in the current quarter, with construction slated to begin in the next stage. The committee has devised a way to divert funds from other schemes to the dam, calculating that it will take eight, not 25, years to complete.

MNA development schemes

Nawaz has promised MNAs that in the next PSDP, they will be given twice the allocated amount as the Supreme Court ruling does not allow the government to utilise Rs5 billion for special programmes in the current programme.

Reference against chairman WAPDA

In previous meetings, Nawaz asked his Principal Secretary Javed Aslam to form a technical committee to initiate a probe against Wapda Chairman Syed Raghib Abbas, and recommend a NAB reference if he is found guilty.

Sources said Abbas did not satisfy the committee regarding the utilisation of funds under various Wapda schemes in the PSDP, as preliminary probes revealed he had diverted Rs8 billion under the Wapda head in PSDP to former PM Raja Pervez Ashraf’s Peoples Works Program II.

Funding PSDP

Out of the government’s PSDP goal of Rs540 billion, it has so far collected Rs430 billion in terms of revenue. Out of the total Rs540 billion, Rs110 billion will come from foreign aid and the rest will be released by the Planning Commission of Pakistan.

PML-N’s Dr Darshan, a member of the committee, told The Express Tribune that the committee is going to meet the premier this week. He said that it has shaped up some of his proposals but that Nawaz will take the final decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2014.