ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives has constituted a sub-committee to monitor the progress of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) on the New Balakot City Development project.
The sub-committee would also resolve the issue of release of funds for the victims of Suki Kanari Hydro Power Dam Project at River Kunhar, District Mansehra.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives met with Junaid Akbar, MNA in the chair at the Parliament House, on Monday.
The Sub-Committee comprised with the following composition and Terms of Reference (ToRs): Composition: (i) Saleh Muhammad Swati, MNA (Convener), (ii) Muhammad Sajjad, MNA (Member) and (iii) Syed Agha Rafiullah, MNA (Member).
Terms of Reference (ToRs): (1) To resolve the matter referred by the Speaker’s Office on 30-06-2021 regarding release of funds for the victims of Suki Kanari Hydro Power Dam Project at River Kunhar, District Mansehra.
(2) To monitor progress of the ERRA on the development projects in District Mansehra and New Balakot.
The New Balakot City Project was being established at Bakriyal Village, in Mansehra district which is located at a distance of 1.6 km from the newly built Hazara Motorway.
The project has been divided into different sectors out of which the development of two sectors has been completed.
After earthquake in 2005, Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf had laid the foundation stone of the Rs13 billion New Balakot Housing project in 2007, which could not be completed after a passage of 15 years.
The Committee also raised its concerns over the issues regarding Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Kartarpur Corridor projects.
Therefore, it was recommended that the ministry may reconcile and provide a detailed response in that regard in the next Committee meeting.
The representatives of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, gave a detailed briefing on its mechanism to discourage the practice of spending development funds for the non-development expenses on recurring basis by the various ministries.
It was informed that the process of approval of such projects had been streamlined to ensure their transparency at initial phase, however, the process for proper monitoring and evaluation of the mature projects was also being improved.
The Committee recommended that Key Performance Indicators for such development projects may also formulated to assess their relevance and utility.
The General Statistics (Reorganization) (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was also disposed-off by the Committee due to repeated non-attendance by the Mover.
The Committee, unanimously, confirmed minutes of its previous meeting held on 12th April2021.
The ministry gave a compliance report regarding the recommendations of the previous meeting.
The meeting was attended by members/MNAs Sher Akbar Khan, Saleh Muhammad, Shaukat Ali, Syed Faiz Ul Hassan, Nawab Sher, Dr Seemi Bukhari, Imran Khattak, Muhammad Sajjad, Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhry, Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry, Sardar Muhammad Irfan Dogar, Naveed Dero, Syed Agha Rafiullah and the Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiative along with other senior officers from the ministry attended the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
Comments
Comments are closed.