ISLAMABAD - 

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government yesterday issued no objection certificate (NOC) to Frontier Works Organization (FWO) for construction of three hydel power projects in the province.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak with FWO Deputy Director General Salman Qaisarani. It was also agreed during the meeting that a cement factory in district Harripur whose construction had been completed would be formally handed over to the government. The KP chief minister will inaugurate the cement factory on February 7, official sources told The Nation.

The meeting was informed that the paper work for the handing over of the construction of refinery in Karak to FWO was ready. The meeting decided that construction of refinery in Karak would be formally handed over to FWO on return of its DG from abroad, the official said. Similarly FWO was asked to start the construction of a smart city project in KP, the official city. The project will be funded by FWO while the KP government will acquire land for the purpose, the official added.

Although the decision to hand over hydropower projects to FWO was taken a year ago but due to lethargy of the KP bureaucracy the transfer was delayed, the official said. Earlier, the KP government decided to hand over six hydel power projects to Frontier Work Organization (FWO). The projects had the capacity to produce 719 megawatts of electricity, however, now only three projects located in Chital with the combined generation capacity of around 400MW will be awarded to the FWO, the official said. After the NOC, now the FWO will go to PPIB to fulfill the procedure for taking over the project.FWO will also file a petition in Nepra to get the electricity rates for the project, the official said. The projects will be completed in three years, the official added.

Similarly, the handing over of the cement factory was also delayed as some lobbyist were trying to get the projects for themselves and were creating hurdles in the way of transfer of the project to FWO.

The official said that in the meeting FWO also briefed the chief minister on the status of the Swat Motorway. It was informed that the road part of the Swat Motorway will be completed by December 2017, however the tunnel part might be delayed. Swat Motorway will start from Captain Kernal Sher Khan Interchange on Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway (M-1) & Terminate at Chakdara on National Highway N-45.

FAWAD YOUSAFZAI