LAHORE: As many as 44 development schemes under the first phase of the World Bank-funded Rs38 billion Punjab Cities Programme (PCM) have been completed by the end of December, gearing up the authorities concerned to launch phase-II of the programme in a day or two and complete it by 2024.

The programme is being implemented by the Punjab Municipal Development Fund Company (PMDFC) in the territorial jurisdiction of 16 municipal committees (MCs) of Punjab, Dawn has learnt.

“We’ve completed all schemes under the PCM’s phase-1 that was launched in 2019. Now, we’re launching the phase-2 under which the major activity would be the procurement of machinery for the Solid Waste Management-related activities in the cities of Daska, Hafizabad, Jhelum, Kamoke, Muridke, Wazirabad, Gojra, Jaranwala, Jhang, Kamalia, Okara, Bahawalnagar, Burewala, Khanewal, Kotaddu and Vehari,” a senior official of the PMFDC, a subsidiary of the local government and community development department, told Dawn on Friday.

Under the programme, investments are being made in the sectors of water supply, sewerage, storm drainage, solid waste management, wastewater treatment plants, urban roads, parks and streetlights. By rejuvenation of the old depleted municipal service delivery system, especially in the areas of sewerage, wastewater treatment and solid waste management will not only uplift the living standards of locals but will also improve their trust in the government’s ability to deliver and uphold its responsibilities towards its citizens.

44 schemes under phase-I complete

A flagship program of the Punjab government, the PCM was launched in 2018 with a mandate to strengthen the performance of participating urban local governments in urban management and service delivery.

Before the completion of the phase-1 of the PCM, various projects under the Punjab Municipal Services Improvement Project, Elimination of Ponds Project, Municipal Assets Management Information System (MAMIS), Programme Monitoring Unit for monitoring the cleanliness of seven cities under the Waste Management Companies and Upgradation of MAMIS have already been completed.

“The PCM’s objectives are also aligned with international development agendas like UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, for sustainable, inclusive and climate-resilient development,” the official said, adding that to exploit the economic growth potential of the cities, some policy reforms have been proposed in line with the Punjab Growth Strategy and Vision 2025,” said the official.

Under the PCM, solid waste management, being a major problem of rural or urban settlements alike, is being focused on. In collaboration with partner MCs, required machinery and equipment will also be provided to the MCs so that they could improve the SWM. Moreover, the institutional strengthening being a major focus area under the programme, special heed is being paid to hone the skills of the 16 MCs in the areas of investment planning and budgeting, HR, own-source revenues, procurement, financial management and audit, environment and social management, transparency and accountability and urban infrastructure.

“A three-day training sessions on DLIs (Results areas of Environmental and Social Management PCP) for the MC staff have also been completed in various cities during phase-1. Moreover, similar training sessions will also be conducted in the target cities for capacity building of the MC staff in the second phase,” he said.

“Currently, we are also implementing the ‘Strengthening provisions of municipal services to the citizens through improved local governments in Punjab’ project under which the IT-based monitoring system for LGs in Punjab, and local government dashboard is being introduced,” he added.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2022