CDWP clears 10 development projects worth Rs87.17bn

ISLAMABAD: The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has cleared ten development projects worth Rs 87.17 billion during its meeting on Monday.

The meeting, which was chaired by Federal Minister for Planning Development & Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal, was also attended by the Planning Ministry secretary, the Chief Economist, members of the Planning Commission and representatives from various other ministries and divisions.

According to details, the forum considered ten projects related to the Ministry of Housing and Works, Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination, Ministry of Communication, Ministry of Science & Technology and Higher Education Commission HEC. These projects include: reconstruction of Turbat-Mand Road, construction of Pun Panjgur-Gichak-Awaran Road, reconstruction of Manghopir, completion of Niheng Bridge, the Shagharthang Hydropower Project, the Strengthening Institution for Refugee’s Administration (SIRA), establishment of Cancer Hospital in ICT, Gwadar Safe City Project (Phase-1), development of Ziarat Town and the National Forensic Science Laboratory.

The forum cleared the Reconstruction of Turbat- Mand Road from M-8 till Iranian Border-Radeeq at the cost of Rs 20,992.875m to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNE). 

The revised project additionally envisaged the completion of 410-meter long and 8.2-meter wide two lane Niheng Bridge at Rodbun, District Kech, Baluchistan Province at the cost of Rs 673.688m. The starting point of the project extends from the existing Nehang Bridge, the South side embankment of which has been washed away due to floods.

The forum also recommended the Construction of Pun Panjgur-Gichak-Awaran Road, District Awaran at the cost of Rs 29,638.353m to the ECNE. This entails the construction of 228-kilometer long and 7.3-meter wide (3.65-meter wide each) asphaltic carriageway, starting from Panjgur – Gichak -Awaran, District Panjgur & Awaran, in the Southern Baluchistan Region. The road will connect Gichak with Panjgur, as well as with Karachi via Bela-Hoshab Road. 

Similarly, the reconstruction of Manghopir at the cost of Rs 3190.432m was also cleared by the forum.

The CDWP furthermore approved the project, Strengthening Institutions for Refugee’s Administration SIRA at the cost of Rs 2.043.000m. The Ministry of States and Frontier Regions is mandated to deal with the issues related to Afghan refugees. The Chief Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees (CCAR) being an attached department of the Ministry of SAFRON is the operational arm to manage Afghan Refugees. CCAR and its Provincial Afghan Commissionerate’s offices are responsible for advising/ providing inputs on policy matters and implementing the policies of the Ministry of SAFRON on Afghan Refugees’ issues. It is estimated that nearly three million Afghan Refugees are living in Pakistan i.e. 1.436 million Afghans with Proof of Registration Cards (POR) for their identity; in addition to approximately 840,000 Afghan Citizen Card holders and an estimated 700,000 undocumented Afghan living in Pakistan. The Ministry of SAFRON with the technical assistance of the National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) has registered these Afghan refugees. The Government of Pakistan has allowed UNHCR to conduct refugee status determination (RSD). Individuals recognized as refugees at the outcome of the UNHCR’s RSD process and members of their family are issued with UNHCR Refugee Identity cards, known as Proof of Registration (PoR) cards.

Moreover, the 26 MW Shagharthang Hydropower Project in Skardu was recommended at the cost of 17,972.902m to the ECNE. The Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan is the sponsoring agency of the project. The main objective of the project is to exploit the potential of hydropower available in the middle stretch of Kachura Lungma to generate 26 MW output, which will augment power to the existing electricity network of the area to resolve power shortage to the consumers of load centers in Skardu valley.

The CDWP also approved the establishment of a Cancer Hospital in ICT (Revised) at the cost of Rs3,406.169m. The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination is the sponsoring agency of the project. This project envisages the establishment of a 200 bedded state of the art hospital for indoor admission of various types of cancer patients. The division of the beds include 75 beds for adult oncology, 25 beds for women oncology, 25 beds for ICU, 30 beds for private and 20 beds for emergencies.

Furthermore, the forum approved of the Gwadar Safe City Project (Phase-1) at the cost of Rs 4,966.905m. Government of Balochistan is the sponsoring Agency. This project seeks to provide a safer city for the residents of Gwadar particularly at the identified strategic locations and also helps the law enforcement agencies in detecting and investigating crime by collecting evidence. Gwadar is relatively an unsafe city, with many foreign governments advising their citizens against traveling there. The current infrastructure is insufficient to cater to the security needs of Gwadar city. Gwadar safe city has been developed precisely to help all government stakeholders including the city administration, Gwadar police and other Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to mitigate the security and communication challenges. 

Finally, establishment of the National Forensic Science Laboratory at the cost of Rs 1978.422m was also approved by the forum. The Ministry of Interior is the sponsoring agency of the project. The laboratory will be established in ICT.