By By Imtiaz Ali
The Sindh government has decided to conduct a detailed audit to determine the actual costs of the 500 houses that were to be constructed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the Behan Benazir Basti Programme (BBBP), sources privy to this development told The News. It was decided at the meeting that the audit would be conducted before the third instalment is released by the Sindh government, and the findings would be reported to the steering committee concerned, sources added.
Sources said that at a recent meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Sindh Housing Minister Agha Taimour expressed his concerns about the project, claiming that although six out of the nine stipulated months had passed, the UNDP had only constructed 25 houses out of the 500 that it was supposed to build. Taimour had also told the meeting that “serious complaints” were also received regarding the quality of these houses, sources claimed.
The meeting was informed that there were reports that while the UNDP had agreed to charge Rs345,000 per house from the People’s Housing Cell (PHC) of the Sindh government, the organisation had sublet the job to NGOs at a rate of Rs276, 000 per house, sources said. The amount actually being spent on construction, however, is alleged to be even less than the amount at which the UNDP has leased out the job, sources said.
The participants of the meeting were informed that the agreement between the UNDP and the PHC stipulated that all savings will be returned to the PHC, and therefore, it was deemed necessary to conduct an audit of their accounts at this stage so as to determine the actual costs incurred so far. It was also decided that the quality of work being carried out would be examined through the competent forum. If the performance of UNDP was found unsatisfactory, they would not be given projects in future, sources said.
The meeting also expressed concern over the “considerable delay” in the release of funds by the finance department, which in turn was causing delays in the completion of ongoing projects. It was suggested that all programme funds should be placed at the disposal of the PHC, and the Rs100million budget for ancillary activities for 2009-10 is released.
It was decided that Rs10 million out of the budget allocated for ancillary activities (2009-10) are released on an immediate basis, while Rs20.16 million requisitioned by PHC in programme funds are also released immediately. It was also decided that Sindh Chief Secretary Fazlur Rehman would hold a meeting with the PHC and the finance department to discuss the transfer of programme funds to PHC.
The participants also deliberated the issue of selection of NGOs, with the minister for housing revealing that the audit department had raised “objections” to awarding pilot projects of 500 and 200 houses to UNDP and Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO) respectively “without inviting tenders under the rules of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA)”.
The enforcement of a “transparent mechanism” was also recommended as a necessary step for the construction of 10,000 houses, as had been directed by the CM and President Asif Ali Zardari.
The meeting also decided that if SRSO qualified for exemption from tendering processes for being a non-governmental organisation, then a notification to this effect may be issued from the competent authority. Otherwise, NGOs may be invited through the media under the PPRA rules regarding the selection of NGOs.
Sources said that CM Shah informed the participants that during a surprise visit to Garhi Khuda Bux, he saw only two houses being constructed there. Shah said that that he got the impression that there would be 40 houses on this site, adding that the construction of only one or two houses at one place is not likely to create “enough impact” on the masses.
The housing minister explained that under the pilot project, 40 houses are being built all over the union council of Pir Bux Bhutto, with beneficiaries selected on the basis of SRSO poverty-card and vetted by elected representatives. As a result, only one or two beneficiaries were selected from a particular village, and therefore, 40 houses were scattered over a large tract of land.
The meeting decided that in order to build 10,000 houses, SRSO will select about 500 villages in the most deprived areas of the province, with between 30 and 40 houses being constructed in each village and about 80 per cent of the families fulfilling the criteria of deserving beneficiaries.
To achieve this end, a committee comprising of legislators of respective areas would be formed, which would select the 300 most-deserving villages or beneficiaries out of the list of 500 villages supplied by SRSO. It was decided that between 30 and 40 houses shall be built in each of the selected villages, which would be named as “Behan Benazir Basti”. The participants of the meeting were of the view that all 10,000 houses in these 300 Basties shall be completed within one year.