Daily Times

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government seems to have failed to complete uplift projects announced in previous financial years. According to the budget documents, it has announced a small number of new development projects this year. PTI government’s inability to undertake the old schemes before unveiling new ones speaks volumes about its inability to deliver.

The comparative study of the three-year project initiated under ADP suggested that the PTI-led government had been unable to complete the old projects, and each year there is a gradual decrease in the new projects. For the financial year 2016-17, the KP government announced 1516 development projects. For the year 2016-17, the government has made an allocation of Rs161 billion in ADP in which Rs36 billion are expected to be received as foreign aid under foreign projects assistance (FPA), and Rs12 billion as bank loans. “A 12 per cent increase has been recorded in the local component of the ADP, and an 11 per cent increase on revised allocation of the previous year,” states the white paper.

Interestingly, 54 per cent of funds have been estimated for 1237 ongoing projects i.e.82 per cent of the total projects while 46 per cent of the funds will go to the 279 new projects i.e.18 per cent of the total ADP projects, according to the white paper. The white paper statistics suggest the PTI’s claims of completing development projects faster than other provinces was nothing more than lip service.

For the outgoing 2015-16 year, the KP government allocated funds to a total of 1553 development projects in which 915 projects were ongoing while 638 were new, a 41-59 ratio.

Lashing out at the provincial government’s performance in completing development schemes, Awami National Party’s parliamentary leader in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Sardar Hussain Babak said, “I wonder how long the PTI is going to rule this province. The targets it has set seem to be unrealistic.”

He said the total throw forward of ongoing projects has accumulated to Rs491 billion.

Striking a comparison with his government, he maintained the throw forward stood at Rs151 billion when ANP completed its tenure in 2013. He added it was a pity that a majority of the projects the PTI-led government had been continuing were initiated by ANP government. “It is disappointing that the incumbent government couldn’t even complete the projects initiated by the previous government even after the passage of three years,” he said. He said the pace of the work and allocation of funds to development projects showed the PTI government expected to stay beyond 2018.