CM reviews progress on development programme

LAHORE:Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Friday chaired the second meeting of public-private partnership policy and monitoring board, held here at his office.

The meeting reviewed progress on public-private partnership based projects worth Rs42 billion of the ongoing annual development programme. The meeting approved installation of water meters in Lahore with an amount of around Rs10.30 billion. It also approved procurement, installation, operationalisation and maintenance of water meters in Lahore.

The signing of concessional agreement of Lahore Ring Road Southern Loop-III project was approved.

An agreement would be signed with the National Logistic Cell (NLC) this month. The project would be completed with an amount of around Rs10 billion and the foundation stone would be laid the next month.

The chief minister said that Lahore Ring Road Western Loop project would also be started in PPP-mode. The meeting approved signing of an MoU with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for construction of 10 new hospitals comprising 500 beds. The ADB would submit its recommendations after study of the project.

The chief minister expressed his displeasure over non-implementation of proposal about zero-waste material recovery facility, adding that implementation was the responsibility of the line department.

Decisions should be made to move forward and red-tapism would not help, he added. He regretted that the proposal was still under consideration in different departments for many months. "I need progress in the next meeting and those creating hurdles will have to face the consequences," he warned.

The meeting also examined establishment of Punjab Infrastructure Fund and the chief minister said that the fund was imperative to motivate the private sector about PPP-based projects. He ordered for reviewing establishment of the industrial zones along newly-constructed roads as it would encourage economic activities at the grassroots.

The meeting approved the business plan of public-private partnership policy and monitoring board. It rejected the application to revise annual service charges of silos constructed in Bhakkar and Layyah for storing wheat.

Different matters pertaining to the post of the chief executive officer (CEO) of Public-Private Partnership Authority along with the terms of references (ToRs) were approved. The meeting approved establishment of an industrial estate in Muzaffargarh, citizen