ECNEC clears projects worth Rs428 billion

ISLAMABAD: The country’s top project sanctioning authority on Thursday approved a dozen development schemes worth Rs428 billion, including few projects of the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor, settling a row over the alignment of the corridor by approving the eastern route.

The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) also approved a project to strengthen the Balochistan Constabulary by inducting 6,000 additional personnel.

The committee headed by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar green-lighted the construction of the Sukkur-Multan section of the Karachi-Multan-Lahore Motorway (KLM) project. The approval came just days before a Pakistani delegation is set to leave for China to discuss financing issues of the infrastructure and energy sector projects that will be completed under the corridor.

The Sukkur-Multan project will be completed at a cost of Rs259.4 billion, 90% of which will be funded by China, according to a finance ministry handout issued after the ECNEC meeting. The remainder will come from the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). The project, which envisages the construction of a 387-kilometre-long six-lane motorway stretch, will be completed by October 2017 and will be executed by the National Highway Authority (NHA).

At a cost of Rs51 billion, the ECNEC also approved the project for land acquisition, compensation for affected properties and relocation of utilities for the construction of KLM.

With this approval, the issue of the Pakistan-China Corridor has been settled once and for all. In order to address security concerns, the government had decided to change the corridor’s alignment from the old western route – which passes through some restive areas – to a new eastern route. The decision had prompted much agitation by parliamentarians from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

ECNEC also approved acquisition of land for the establishment of a Free Trade Zone at Gwadar at a cost of Rs6.5 billion. The project envisages acquisition of 2,281 acres of land, 1,627 acres of which would be acquired from private land owners, according to the finance ministry.

The body also approved the ‘Widening and Improvement of the 250km-long Kalat-Quetta-Chaman Road Section of the National Highway N-25’ with a revised cost of Rs19.2 billion. At a cost of Rs30.5 billion, it also cleared the Hasanabdal (Burhan)-Havelian Express.

ECNEC approved a Rs5.2 billion project to strengthen the Balochistan Constabulary. The project envisages recruiting 6,000 new personnel, who will be joined by 4,000 reserve police personnel to make a 10,000 strong constabulary force. This force will be tasked with ensuring security along the route of the Pakistan-China corridor.

The committee also approved the Flood Emergency Reconstruction Project for Bunds and Canals at a cost of Rs26.9 billion, Rs19.2 billion of which will come from a foreign loan. The body also approved the project for evacuation of power from the wind power plants at Jhimpir and Gharo wind clusters located in Thatta district and Jamshoro in Sindh, with a modified cost of Rs11.3 billion.

ECNEC approved, in principle, the ‘Prime Minister’s Programme for Provision of Laptops to Talented Students (HEC)’ at a cost of Rs4.9 billion. It envisages distributing 100,000 laptops among students studying in any public sector higher education institute across the country this year.

The body also cleared the ‘Rehabilitation and Upgradation of Trimmu Barrage and Panjnad Headworks’ with a rationalised cost of Rs16.8 billion, Rs14.9 billion of which will be loaned by the Asian Development Bank.

It also approved the ‘Dualisation and Improvement of the 64km-long Mandra-Chakwal Raod Project’ at a revised cost of Rs4.7 billion. The project was originally cleared by former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf but became controversial afterwards.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2014.