Sindh Minister for Planning and Development Shoaib Bukhari has instructed chiefs of sections to monitor reports relating to progress status and expenditure of ongoing development projects, it was learnt on Thursday.
The government-funded projects usually do not suffer from the shortage of funds but the foreign aided projects that get matching grant, and at time reimbursement of amount spent usually remain incomplete within the stipulated time of completion. Foreign assisted development projects get quarterly releases subject to submission of expenditure statements.
The minister has taken notice of foreign aided projects that were initiated during the fiscal 2005-06 are still incomplete. These projects are mainly in the water, sewerage and road sectors. Some money was allocated for primary education and health facilities.
The minister in his observations on various occasions has expressed his dissatisfaction over the lack of interest of implementing authorities and asked them to strictly abide by the funding requirement of donor agencies.
In the current year ADP/ foreign aided projects are still being formalised despite announcement by Sindh Excise and Taxation Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed during his post budget press conference that this year all projects would be initiated in time.
Sources said that projects that were to deal with education such as 'food and milk programme' for the primary school students in the rural Sindh had not been initiated so far. The money allocated last year for this project had been swindled away as per the statement of Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim.
The sources said that the fate of other foreign aided programme was no different as expenditure statements of the last year were yet to be submitted by the implementing departments to P&D Sindh for reconciliation of statements.
They said that the provincial minister for P&D was likely to hold a meeting on Saturday with his staff to review implementation status of last year's project and expenditure statement reconciliation so that funds committed for the current fiscal are not delayed.
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