PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has directed chief secretary to devise regulatory framework for maintenance and repair of government buildings, roads, canals and other installations to ensure judicious utilisation of funds.

According to official documents, chief minister has directed establishment of a robust regulatory framework to mitigate mismanagement, enhance accountability, and prevent delays that hinder timely execution of necessary repair works. He has issued directives to Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah through a letter issued here on Saturday.

This framework will comprise a district supervisory committee to streamline the execution process, ensuring transparency and quality assurance in maintenance and repair works.

The directives have been issued after noticing that maintenance and repair funds allocated for roads, buildings, irrigation canals, water supply schemes and electricity transformers’ repair under Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) and Tribal Electric Supply Company (Tesco) are often utilised without a structured oversight mechanism, leading to inefficiencies, lack of prioritisation and substandard work.

District supervisory committee to streamline execution process and ensure judicious utilisation of funds

For the regulation of maintenance and repair works, a supervisory committee will be established in each district. The relevant deputy commissioner will be chairperson of the district supervisor committee.

Other members of the committee will be additional deputy commissioner (F&P), district head of the relevant executing department and two members from civil society, who will be nominated by commissioner.

The representative of monitoring and evaluation wing of planning and development department will perform as secretary of the district committee.

As per Terms of Reference (ToR), the committee will be responsible to identify and maintain a district priority list of maintenance and repair works for each department, ensuring due diligence based on cost-effectiveness and population benefit analysis.

The district committee will also forward proposed schemes to the respective department for final approval by the departmental scrutiny committee (DSC). It will monitor, evaluate and ensure quality assurance of maintenance and repair works including snow clearance and emergency repairs within the limits of the district. It will also oversee maintenance and repair of Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority’s projects.

The committee will also be responsible to ensure publication of an annual maintenance report for each district, covering the total expenditure incurred on maintenance and repair of all schemes, pre-and post-execution photographic documentation and GPS coordinates for each completed project.

It will also be responsible to coordinate scheduled repair and maintenance work for Pesco facilities, especially during peak seasons, to minimise service disruptions. It will submit special reports during emergency to relevant authorities for immediate decision-making and response.

As per implementation mechanism of regulatory framework, all maintenance and repair, snow clearance and emergency repair works shall be carried out strictly based on recommendations of the district supervisory committee.

The departmental scrutiny committee (DSC) shall formally communicate approvals of maintenance and repair works to the relevant district supervisory committee to ensure timely and quality implementation of the scheme.

The committee shall convene periodic review meetings to assess the status of maintenance and repair projects and recommend improvements where necessary.

The chief minister has issued instructions that these measures should be implemented without delay and strict compliance should be ensured at all levels.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2025