Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of council of common interests (CCI) has discussed matters pertaining to distribution of gas and other natural resources amongst the provinces as well as the proposed national LNG policy.

The meeting was held in Islamabad on Tuesday with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the chair. The meeting also discussed energy and hydropower projects, state media reported. Pakistan Bureau of Statistics briefed the meeting about ongoing census exercise under which the first phase of census has been accomplished while the second phase is underway.

Nawaz Sharif, on the occasion, directed that all projects should be completed within approved costs and scheduled timelines with utmost transparency. He said that previously development projects were never completed in time and cost over-run was a matter of routine. During the CCI meeting, the Secretary Inter-Provincial Coordination Division briefed the participants regarding implementation status of decisions taken in the last CCI meeting held on December 16, 2016.

While considering the inquiry into corruption charges of Kachhi Canal case the CCI unanimously decided that exemplary punishment be accorded to all the officials involved in the case.

The CCI directed all provincial representatives to hold meeting with the Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal to finalize matters pertaining to higher education and other similar bodies in post 18th Amendment scenario. The CCI approved the financing of National Flood Protection Plan Phase-IV at an overall cost of Rs 177.661 billion on 50: 50 share basis by the federal government and the provincial governments.

For the agenda item of ‘Import of LNG’, it was decided that the summary shall be circulated to all provinces for soliciting comments and shall be presented in the next CCI meeting. The CCI expressed satisfaction over the 6th Population and Housing Census. The Ministry of Finance assured that the census would be completed within the scheduled timeline with utmost transparency.

The Ministry of Climate Change briefed the CCI meeting that detailed consultations on National Forest Policy 2015 have been completed with all provinces.

The policy only provides for additional federal technical and expert advice as well as coordination with International forums with whom we are signatory to international protocols and agreements. Forests, itself being a provincial subject shall remain under control of provincial governments for purposes of implementation.

The Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif informed the CCI that issues regarding settlement of Net Hydel Profit (NHP) between Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and the Punjab government have been settled wherein WAPDA has issued a promissory note in favour of the Punjab government amounting to Rs 38.12 billion while a tariff petition is under review for filing with National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) for recovery of NHP arrears.

The CCI approved amendments in the ‘Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act, 1997’. The meeting was attended by the provincial chief ministers, Federal Ministers for Finance, Water and Power, SAFRON, Planning, Petroleum, Overseas Pakistanis, Religious Affairs, Defence Production and Climate Change.