CDWP clears 17 projects but at a higher cost

Faulty planning, scarcity of resources cited as reasons for escalated price.

ISLAMABAD:

The federal government has cleared about one-and-a-half dozen projects at a revised but escalated price of Rs225 billion, highlighting the cost overruns due to faulty planning and scarcity of resources.

Headed by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) considered 17 projects that were already approved at different forums and are being implemented.

However, the increase in cost due to several factors necessitated their approval at the revised cost. Most of the projects are being delayed due to a resource crunch. Like the previous government, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government, too, has cut the development budget to make room for non-development spending – the core reason behind the delay in hundreds of projects each year.

Some of the projects are approved at the revised cost after a change in their design during construction.

On Friday, the CDWP held a meeting where it reviewed 17 revised development projects related to energy, transport and communication, health, education and governance.

While approving the projects at a higher price, the minister vowed to make accountable use of every single penny and said the purpose of scrutiny and monitoring is to reduce the chances of leaving any deficiency in development projects.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2014.