Islamabad  -   A parliamentary committee was informed on Thursday that residents of Gwadar were in hassle due to delay in Gwadar City Master Plan as they were not getting NOCs for construction of their houses.

The delay in announcement of Gwadar Master Plan has created anxiety among the people of Gwadar because it is delaying their plans of constructing their houses, said member Senate Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Reforms Kauda Babar during the meeting of the committee. The meeting was presided over by the committee chairman, Senator Agha Shahzaib Khan Durrani.

Senator Durrani said that 90 percent of the projects were getting delayed which was escalating the cost of the projects. He deplored the fact that poor planning and unrealistic estimation resulted in delay of projects, thus further escalating the costs and waste of resources. He further said that there were many projects which receive due amount but the same remain unspent. Chairman of the Committee observed that slow pace of development projects indicated that estimates had not been made according to real situation and most of the projects were being completed under revised estimates. He underscored the need for more holistic approach in formulating and planning development initiatives.

Senator Durrani pointed out that implementation capacity was a serious issue and there was dire need to adopt realistic approach as per available revenues. The Committee was given a detailed briefing on releases made against various PSDP programmes.

The committee was informed that transition period and rationalisation of PSDP resulted in slow release during first quarter. However, from July to September, Rs94.1 billion had released to various ministries and divisions.

Senator Agha Shahzaib Khan Durrani asked the planning commission to devise an evaluation process to assess and to control the cost overrun and time overrun of projects which results in loss of billions of rupees.

The chairman further asked that there should be no compromise on education sector, especially when it comes to the under-developed province of Balochistan where already the literacy rate is extremely low, whose 4 approved projects (HEC projects) were chopped off from the PSDP in rationalisation process.

Senator Durrani enquired about the latest cost of Peshawar Metro project. The official of the ministry informed that the cost of the project had gone up by Rs17 billion from Rs49 billion to Rs66 billion.

Kauda Babar asked the ministry of planning that why Rs25 billion allocated for Gwadar business plan were not released during past 15 years. The officials of planning ministry said that federal government had to release funds to government of Balochistan and the provincial government had to execute and conceived projects under Gwadar Business Plan.

Senator Kauda babar said that there were various sectors in which projects had been planned. The ministry should provide details of estimates and amount allocated to each sector of Gwadar Business Plan, he said. Senator Mir Kabeer Ahmad said that people of Gwadar were living miserable lives and they did not have access to clean drinking water. The Committee briefly discussed the Gwadar City Master Plan. Members of the Committee were of the view that the plan had been devised by a steering committee without any consultation with the locals, especially representatives of the people of Balochistan. Members were of the view that public representatives from Balochistan in National Assembly, Senate and Balochistan Assembly should be given representation on the Committee so that the project and planning could be made according to the will and aspiration of the people of the area.

Senator Hidayatullah also asked about the financial allocation made for the FATA Secretariat and sought details of the amount released and the projects being funded under PSDP.  The meeting was attended by Senators Gianchand, Kauda Babar, Mir Kabeer Ahmad, Dilawar Khan, Hidayatullah and others besides senior officers of the concerned departments.