President Pervez Musharraf has directed the Planning Commission and other relevant authorities to speed up the process of providing assistance to Afghanistan for reconstruction and that he should be given a detailed briefing on August 10 on the issue.
Sources told Business Recorder here on Wednesday that in the light of directives from President House, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Akram Sheikh, and heads of other relevant bodies would brief the President on Pakistan's assistance for the rebuilding of Afghanistan.
Of the package of $100 million for rebuilding of Afghanistan, so far about $20 million assistance has been provided. Under the assistance package, Pakistan has to undertake various projects in infrastructure in Afghanistan besides a contract of Torkham-Jalalabad road.
The President will also be given detailed briefing on development projects within the country. According to the sources, the concerned authorities will brief the President on August 7 about development initiatives in communication, fuel, water, power, physical planning and housing sectors.
The President may convene a meeting in future to know the exact situation about the execution of projects.
The Planning Commission Deputy Chairman is also expected to inform the President about power and water reservoirs. The briefing will cover small reservoirs proposed by the provinces including around 40 in Balochistan, 12 in NWFP and five of Punjab and Sindh each.
Musharraf will also be informed about Mangla dam raising, Gomal Zam dam, Mirani dam, Sabakzai dam, Satpara dam and other ongoing projects, which will cost around Rs 84,434 million.
In the communication sector, the President would be briefed about the Makran Coastal Road, Layari Expressway, Karachi Northern By-pass, Indus Highway Project, Lowari Tunnel, Improvement of Karakoram Highway, Peshawar-Torkham Expressway and others among the ongoing projects.
The Planning Commission officials will also inform the president about N-5 Highway Rehabilitation Project, Improvement of Quetta Western Bypass, Lak pass Tunnel and others approved under this year's Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
The president will also be briefed on Gwadar Deep-sea Port, Deepening Channel of Gwadar Port Installation of Gantry Cranes, Development of Gwadar Fish Harbour, Pakistan Transport Plan Study and others as the government enhanced the volume of the PSDP from Rs 152 billion to Rs 202 billion where the improvement of infrastructure was given significant importance.
The president and other government high-ups were not satisfied with the poor execution of development projects during 2003-04. The briefing to be given to the President is supposed to be a significant move for the ministries and department to give more attention to the successful execution of the projects.
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