Rs10.6 billion public-private partnership projects approved

LAHORE:Public Private Partnership (PPP) Policy and Monitoring Board Tuesday approved three PPP projects amounting to Rs10.6 billion to be undertaken in PPP mode.

The approval was given in the maiden meeting of PPP Policy and Monitoring Board held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. Dr Salman Shah, Adviser to CM, Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht, MPAs, Chief Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, P&D Board Chairman Habib-ur-Rehman Gilani, Senior Member Board of Revenue Shaukat Ali, secretaries, private sector representatives and member (PPP P&D Board) attended the meeting.

The approved projects are Establishment of Weaving City at M-3 Industrial City, Faisalabad with an objective to shift power looms from residential area to planned setup, Combined Effluent Treatment Plant at Sundar Industrial Estate and Quaid–e-Azam Industrial Estate to improve environment and ecosystem through treatment of industrial waste water and installment of treatment plants to treat waste water.

The consideration of the bid of Lahore Ring Road SL-III (8Km) was also placed and the Board gave principal approval of the project at a cost of Rs10.4 billion.

In addition to this, PDF funding request of Rs88.38 million was also approved to hire transaction advisory services to develop PPP project proposals for dualisation of Sheikhupura-Hafizabad and Chiniot-Pindi Bhattian Road and Lai Expressway Rawalpindi.

The Board members were apprised of new PPP Ordinance under which Punjab Public Private Partnership Authority has been established which will facilitate in achieving Punjab Growth Strategy target of 7% growth rate, sustainable economic development through PPPs, fostering private investment and enhancing capacity of financial, capital and engineering markets/industries. Policy decisions regarding matters related to functioning of the Punjab PPP Authority were also sought from the Board.

In concluding remarks, the chief minister acknowledged the efforts of Finance Minister, Adviser to the chief minister, chief secretary, P&D Board chairman, secretary finance and secretary law & parliamentary affairs for promulgation of Public Private Partnership Ordinance 2019 in a short span of three months after addressing major institutional/regulatory and legal impediments. He said the projects would reduce financial burden on the government and PPP Ordinance, 2019 would provide ease of doing business and one window solution for PPPs. Facilitating the private sector is our top most priority for economic growth and job creation, added the chief minister.

industrial park: The Progressive Group in Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the provincial government especially Punjab Minister for Industries Mian Aslam Iqbal to establish Shahdara cottage industrial park in Shahdara to organise the cottage industrial units present in that area and to bring them to the mainstream. In a statement issued here on Tuesday, Progressive Group Shahdara Chapter leaders Ali Imran, Anjum Saeed, Tahir Naeem Malik and Hamid Khan said that a large number of cottage industrial units were working in the area but they don’t have even basic facilities. Establishment of an industrial park for these small units will help them get organised and expand that would lead them to creation of new jobs and generation of revenue for the government, they added.

They said that majority of these cottage units worked as vendors for big industries, and clustering them at one place would help the big units to have easy access to them while it will also resolve different issues, including traffic mess, being faced by the residential areas.

checking: Lahore police carried out 936 search operations in October. Police checked 15,623 houses, 4,480 tenants, 46,822 other persons, 650 hotels, 111 guest houses,15 hostels and 58 godowns. Police also checked 88 bus stands, 376 shops, 166 churches and five madaris.