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ISLAMABAD: Eighteen projects of strategic nature having a total estimated cost of about Rs875 billion are facing serious bottlenecks because of financial constraints and law and order problems.
The Planning Commission has told the Economic Coordination Committee and the political leadership that an amount of Rs345 billion has already been spent on the projects and if financial difficulties were not solved and the security situation was not improved soon, their cost would keep mounting and their economic benefits would remain unachieved.
The forthcoming meeting of the ECC is likely to take up these projects as a special case to suggest immediate measures to overcome the financial problems. Recommendations will then be presented to the prime minister for coordination with provincial governments to address issues concerned, a senior official told Dawn on Thursday.
In view of the complexities involved in the implementation of major projects funded through the Public Sector Development Programme, the Planning Commission has decided to regularly update the economic decision-making bodies and the prime minister on them so that actionable decisions could be taken to speed up the schemes.
The throw-forward cost of the 18 projects is currently estimated at Rs532 billion. An amount of Rs66.2 billion has been earmarked for them during the current financial year but in many cases allocated funds could not be released because of different reasons.
Of these, eight projects having a total estimated cost of Rs304 billion are in the water sector, on which about Rs155 billion has already been spent. Another four projects in the power sector with a total estimated cost of Rs386 billion are also facing hitches while six projects in the road sector with a total cost of Rs184 billion are facing multiple problems.
Key projects facing problems in the power sector include Rs61 billion Land Acquisition for Diamer-Bhasha dam, Rs141 billion three nuclear power projects (Chashma 2, 3 and 4) and 969MW Neelum Jhelum hydropower project.
Three Chashma Nuclear Power Plants, with a combined power generation capacity of 1,005MW are not getting funds because of limited fiscal space to provide rupee cover against Chinese funding. This may result in project delays beyond scheduled completion in 2017.
The Diamer-Bhasha dam is facing problem in land acquisition while Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project is experiencing cost overrun issues besides difficulties in possession of 16 kanals of crucial land and non-availability of uninterrupted quality power supply.
In the water sector, the problematic projects include Rs102 billion Mangla Dam Raising, Rs47 billion Kachhi Canal, Rs30.5 billion Greater Thal Canal, Rs50 billion Right Bank Outfall Drainage (I, II and III), Rs16 billion Hingol dam and Rs27 billion Makhi Farash Link Canal.
The Mangla Dam Raising project still faces resettlement issues and requires land to fill the dam to maximum capacity owing to inadequate budget allocation and releases even though 96.2 per cent physical progress has been achieved. Kachhi Canal and Greater Thal canals are also moving slowly because of financial difficulties.
Likewise, Rs6 billion Balochistan Effluent Disposal into RBOD project has been affected by torrential rains coupled with 2010 floods while law and order situation in Hadero Drainage Unit and Usta Muhammad Drainage area have slowed down the physical progress. The Rs26.5 billion Hingol dam is currently in the process of cost rationalisation by the Pakistan Engineering Council.
Similarly, Rs27 billion Makhi Farash Link Canal project for supply of water for 1000MW Thar coal project in the first phase and then increasing its capacity to 10,000MW is currently under negotiation between the federal and Sindh governments for cost sharing. A committee comprising minister for water and power, deputy chairman Planning Commission, Sindh’s finance minister and chief minister’s adviser on planning are currently in the process to resolve various issues.
In the road sector, the projects facing hitches are Rs47 billion Hassanabdal-Mansehra Expressway, Rs27 billion Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway, Rs31 billion Karakuram Highway, Rs28.6 billion Faisalabad-Khanewal Motorway, Rs22 billion KKH-Skardu Road and Rs29.5 billion N-5 Highway Rehabilitation.
The 184-km Faisalabad-Khanewal motorway is facing land acquisition problems while the KKH project has been affected by landslides at Attabad Lake. The Rs7 billion Lyari Expressway project is facing cost overruns, land acquisition and encroachments on north-bound portion, delaying it for more than eight years.
