ISLAMABAD: National Coordination Committee on Foreign-Funded Projects on Friday reviewed Punjab government’s progress on 24 development projects amounting to $6.079 billion, and identifying three tasks as problematic urged on timely completion.
The projects are being financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), China, France, Japan and the United Kingdom. Out of the 24 projects, the progress of 17 projects was rated as satisfactory, four as partially satisfactory, whereas three projects were identified as problematic.
The meeting, which was chaired by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan, also reviewed the compliance status of the committee’s previous decisions.
The minister directed to enhance the capacity of Project Management Units and prepare Gantt Charts for effective monitoring of the projects.
Attendants included Provincial Minister for Energy Muhammad Akhtar, Minister for Education Murad Raas, Minister for Health Yasmeen Rashid, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jehanzeb Khan, Secretary EAD Asad Hayaud Din, and senior officers of EAD and provincial departments.
It was noted that the progress on the Public-Private Partnerships Project was very slow, and despite lapse of almost four years, no project has been initiated yet.
The ADB has provided $100 million as loan and FCDO-UK has committed $19.6 million as grant for this project.
The representative of PPP, Punjab informed that the bidding process for Lahore Water Metering Subproject has been completed and the concession agreement was expected to be signed by the end of February 2022.
He further updated that another subproject “Multan-Vehari Road” has been approved by PPP Board and the expression of interest (EOI) has been published. Accordingly, the procurement process would likely complete by May 2022.
Slow progress of Water Resource Project, Faisalabad was also pointed out. French Development Agency (AFD) committed $112 million for this project in 2019, but no disbursement has been made yet. WASA, Faisalabad representative said that this project was now picking up pace.
World Bank-funded Punjab Tourism for Economic Growth project was also reviewed, and the committee noted that out of $50 million, only $16 million has been disbursed since 2017 due to slow progress.
Punjab Tourism Department representative said that revised PC-I has been approved. Out of nine subprojects, six subprojects have been completed while the contracts of remaining three subprojects have been awarded.
Partially satisfactory projects, including World Bank-funded Punjab Agriculture & Rural Transformation Programme ($300 million) and Punjab Green Development Program ($200 million) along with ADB-funded Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Project ($200 million) and Punjab Urban Development Project ($15 million), were also deliberated.
Under the cities improvement project, urban services including water supply, waste management, streets, parks and bus terminals would be upgraded and augmented in Sialkot and Sahiwal.
It was further informed that under phase-II, preparation of subprojects in seven other cities of Punjab – Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, Rawalpindi and Sargodha – were under process.
Omar Ayub appreciated the efforts of line departments to expedite the implementation of other foreign-funded projects. He directed the line departments to strictly follow the timelines for expeditious implementation of the development projects.
He also emphasised that development projects should be executed in timely and efficient manner so that people could benefit without any delay.