CDWP clears Rs15.4 billion worth projects

ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Wednesday approved Rs15.4 billion worth of nine projects related to health, food and agriculture sectors.

The decisions were taken during a meeting presided over by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jehanzeb Khan. Secretary Planning Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh, senior officials from Planning Commission and federal ministries/divisions also participated in the meeting while representatives from provincial governments participated through video conference.

Eight projects worth Rs10.14 billion related to health under COVID-19 program submitted by government of Punjab were presented in the meeting. The approved projects include up-gradation of DHQ hospital, district Hafizabad worth Rs8.2 billion, up-gradation of THQ hospital Minchinabad division, Bhawalngar from 40 to 100 bed worth Rs378 million, construction of 10 bedded emergency ward at THQ level hospital Lalamusa tehsil Kharian district Gujarat Rs71 million, up-gradation of THQ hospital Kharian, district Gujrat, 70 to 100 beds worth Rs197.3 million, construction of 20-bedded surgical ward at THQ hospital, Chunian district Kasur worth Rs132 million, construction of 20-bedded trauma centre and revamping of Tehsil headquarter hospital Pattoki, and district Kasur worth Rs292 million, provision of missing facilities at THQ hospital Naushera, district Khushab worth Rs255 million and up-gradation of 20 bedded RHC Uch Sharif into 60 bedded THQ level hospital, Tehsil Ahmadpur East, district Bahawalpur worth Rs535 million. Another project related to food and agriculture, namely national program on animal disease surveillance and control phase-I worth Rs5.2 billion, was presented and approved in the meeting.

The project aims at setting up an animal disease surveillance ad control system throughout the country, generating information / data in real time for policy analysis, taking operational decisions, showcasing to international organisations and trading partners, strengthening of cold chain system for vaccine storage, transportation and delivery, up gradation of nine labs to diagnose foot and mouth disease stereotyping and other reportable diseases.

The Planning Commission’s officials have been asked to allocate additional funds out of development funds to fast-moving projects to facilitate their early completion. The commission was directed to work with the ministries to ensure full utilisation of funds. International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have raised concern over delay in execution of development projects and underutilisation of PSDP funds. The underutilisation was due to various reasons, including officials’ propensity to avoid auditing efforts, according to people familiar with the matter. This tendency causes lapse of development programs.