CDWP clears four projects worth Rs136.74 billion

ISLAMABAD: Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Wednesday cleared four development projects worth Rs136.74 billion.

The CDWP met under the chairmanship of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Mohammad Jahanzeb Khan. Participants included secretaries of Planning Development and Special Initiatives, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Communication, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Petroleum, as well as National Highway Authority chairman and other key stakeholders.

The forum took up the emergency plan for polio eradication project worth Rs131.996 billion, replacement of obsolete equipment’s and procurement of new electro-medical equipment for National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Islamabad worth Rs524.690 million, expansion and up-gradation of Pakistan Petroleum Corehouse for its sustainable operations to facilitate oil and gas exploration research worth Rs819.102 million, establishment of Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medical College Mirpur worth Rs3,400 million.

The five-year polio project was cleared in line with the current National Emergency Action Plan for Polio Eradication 2021-23 and GPEI strategy 2022-2026 with focus on eliminating the Wild Polio Virus and CVDPV2 across the country and achieving post-polio certification.

The primary goal of the project is to interrupt wild polio virus type 1 and circulating vaccine derived polio virus type 2 transmission as a path to global polio eradication.

The programme plans to limit circulation to core reservoirs and shared transmission corridors and then interrupt all polio virus within the reservoirs by 2024.

Secretary health informed the forum that the project would be executed for five years to eradicate polio from the country. However, he added that recently two cases of polio were reported in North Waziristan, which emerged from neighbouring country Afghanistan.

He said that due to the porous border, polio cases emerged from Afghanistan and that matter was discussed with the Afghan government. Pakistan asked the Afghan government to conduct a door-to-door polio campaign and secure the border in order to avoid increase in polio cases.

Similarly, the forum also approved the expansion and up-gradation of Pakistan Petroleum Corehouse for its sustainable operations to facilitate oil and gas exploration research.

The Ministry of Petroleum is the executing agency and the project envisages expansion of Pakistan Petroleum Corehouse to increase its storage capacity, upgrade its laboratory facilities for analytical services and value-addition of well samples archived in it to facilitate oil and gas exploration.

The Expansion of PETCORE building with additional racking system with storage material (standard wood pulp cardboard boxes and vial trays) for well samples and up-gradation of existing lab facilities through procurement of state-of-the-art equipment would provide necessary services to the E&P sector.

The scope of work includes expansion of Pakistan Petroleum Corehouse through construction of new storage capacity (29,064 sq ft), up-gradation of laboratory facilities for analytical services, and value-addition of well samples.

The forum also cleared replacement of obsolete equipment and procurement of new electro-medical equipment for National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Islamabad. The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination is the executing agency or the work.