Daily Times

Great nations are built upon causes led by the leader. It is heartwarming to see that Imran Khan is finally focusing on real business which is important for the future generations by pledging funds for the dam.

His address has given hope to the a nation that was in distress. It can be largely debated that controversies have been created by the inexperience of his party or the well-experienced opposition; that fuelled and manipulated the controversies from behind the curtains. However, from this circus the announcement of the tariff hike in the gas sector has certainly set the right tone of the government.

The speech regarding the water crisis cemented Prime Minister Khan’s commitment to rectify the ills of the society but the devil is in the detail Mr Khan, there is more to building a dam than simply asking for charity from overseas Pakistanis.

I am not saying that you haven’t deliberated on this issue with your technical experts but here are a few of my humble suggestions; firstly all the people who will be contributing more than thousand dollars for the dam, their picture and details should be displayed on the national website built for this purpose and the updates about the project should also be provided. Ten-year maturity bonds should be circulated to Pakistani nationals abroad to gather money.

All domestic customers who spend more than one thousand units must be charged 5 percent of the building amount. Similarly, water meters should be installed in all major upper housing colonies, societies and the lavish water usage by households should be taxed heavily. Mr Khan water is too precious to be spent on washing cars.

Money contribution from overseas should be made easier and convenient, similar to Pakistan where you can send ten to twenty rupees from your mobile from the comfort of your home.

Reservoirs should be built first and powerhouse funding can be arranged later on by mobilising foreign investment. All the components which can be built in Pakistan should be built locally, this will boost the job market as well. For instance, the cement and iron industry will get a boost too, thousands of people will get jobs.

The powerhouse and the large turbines can be built in Heavy Machinery Taxila, experts in dam technology can be used from all over the world. Furthermore, technology transfer agreements with countries like Egypt, and also they can be consulted so that our reliance on foreign expertise and foreign currency reserves can be diminished.

Reservoirs should be built first and powerhouse funding can be arranged later on by mobilising foreign investment. All the components which can be built in Pakistan should be built locally, this will boost the job market as well

Local contractors must be engaged and they should lower their profits for the national cause; later on, they can be awarded national awards to curtail cost and boost nationalism. However, quality must be insured by foreign reputable consultants.

We are talking about hundreds and billions that can help us feed the job market as well as achieve a double-digit growth rate, as well as curtailing water shortages. An efficient commission headed by the Prime Minister is required to oversee the construction process. All the funds must be transferred to the commission and it must be held accountable for the funds.

Mr Prime Minister, we are an inexperienced but resilient nation. We have eaten grass but built atom bombs to protect our future generations. We can also suffer today to build a water-secure country for the coming generations.

The writer works as a consultant and has dealt with various large scale infrastructure projects. He is also a PhD Scholar at National College of Business Administration (NCBA) and a visiting lecturer at the University of Management & Technology (UMT)

Published in Daily Times, October 10^th 2018.