Editorial

Development with a bang

The projects being selected by the government are designed to serve the needs of the Pakistani people

Editorial February 25, 2014

The prime minister would do well to make sure that this project is undertaken with political consensus, so that work on this vital piece of infrastructure is not interrupted. PHOTO: INP/FILE

True to form, the Nawaz Administration has begun unveiling its inclination towards ‘mega projects’. A committee created by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has decided to consolidate the government’s development spending towards fewer, larger projects and away from the many, smaller, disparate projects. We find this to be a welcome change of pace from the past few years and hope the government succeeds in this retooling of the development budget. By all accounts, the directives for this change appear to be coming from the prime minister himself, which suggests that the premier is prioritising his development agenda at last.

The projects being selected by the government — while expensive — are designed to serve the needs of the Pakistani people, who stand to benefit from large infrastructure projects. The shift is particularly welcome since it moves away from the donor-driven model of projects, which were designed with donor visibility being placed at a higher priority than citizen need. Having said that, we would advise the government to tread carefully. While some of the motorway projects may well be completed within the administration’s term, the Diamer-Bhasha Dam, even if completed in the optimistic time frame of eight years, would not be finished before the next election. The prime minister would do well to make sure that this project is undertaken with political consensus, so that work on this vital piece of infrastructure is not interrupted.

To that end, it would behoove the Nawaz Administration not to be quite so cavalier in dismissing the development priorities of its political rivals. This approach could lead to damaging and expensive policy reversals in the future. One last word of caution: the Bank of Punjab may be doing better than under the Musharraf Administration, but is nowhere near ready to finance large infrastructure projects. A more credible line-up of financiers would be advisable.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2014.

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