PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Community Support Project (PCSP) Friday organized cheque distribution ceremony of worth Rs. 29 million as the first installments among the community representatives to initiate 15 priority local development schemes in the project target districts including Khyber, Peshawar and Nowshera.
The total worth of the first batch of approved projects is PKR 108 million which includes street pavements, drainage facilities, water supply schemes and farm-to-market roads, said a press release issued here on Sunday.
Speaking at the occasion, the Director General (DG), Sustainable Development Unit, Suhail Khan said, “PCSP has made significant progress within a short span in the project corridor which is a testament of the level of determination and involvement of the communities including youth, elders and ulema to lead their own development priorities”.
The project’s Grievance Redressal Mechanism has also been set up to ensure the quality, quantity, and delivery of the sub-projects through gathering suggestions and addressing complaints of the communities, he added.
The first installment cheques of 30% were handed over to the Presidents of the Community Development Councils (CDCs) which have been established and organized under the PCSP.
These funds will be utilized for the development of community infrastructure schemes i.e., street pavements, improve drainage facilities, build water supply infrastructures, and develop rural roads. The implementation of all the sub-projects will be carried out by the communities through their CDCs with the assistance of the project’s technical staff and social mobilization partners.
Earlier, the Project Director PCSP, Tillat Fahad, while addressing the ceremony said, “This is not just a cheque distribution ceremony, but a demonstration of the government’s trust in your ability and potential to steer your own development for a better future”. The communities ensuring the timely and quality completion of their ongoing sub-projects will be provided more funds for other sub-projects in the future, she added.
PCSP also encourages the participation of women and youth in the development activities through special financial allocations and proper representation in the CDCs. The sub-projects which have been provided with the mobilization funds are among the local development schemes under the PCSP, supported by the World Bank with funding from the Pakistan Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF).
The project aims to improve access to local infrastructure and basic services while strengthening citizen engagement in the project’s three target districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, including Khyber, Peshawar, and Nowshera in the Corridor of Influence.
The project has been designed and implemented using a community-driven development approach so that communities can actively participate and receive socioeconomic benefits. The ceremony also gave a platform to the community representatives to share their experiences about the project implementation so far, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Muhammad Ilyas, the President of Guloona Mashoman Welfare Organization based in Jalozai, Nowshera said, “during the last 3 months, the project field staff have gone the extra mile to provide us the capacity building, social mobilization, community development and public consultations support to prepare us for our street pavement and drainage rehabilitation sub-project”.
The ceremony was concluded by the Additional Deputy Commissioner Finance & Planning Khyber, who said that the identification, prioritization, implementation and the post-completion operations and maintenance of all sub-projects will be led by the communities as the custodians of their own development.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021