By Khalid Mustafa in the News, December 22, 2014
ISLAMABAD: In 2005 a devastating earthquake hit Pakistan that wreaked havoc in the northern areas, AJK and some parts of KPK. Balakot city was totally destroyed.
The world community offered $5.5 billion funding to rebuild the badly hit five districts of KPK and 4 districts of AJK. The government of Pakistan prepared a special plan to develop new Balakot city in Mansehra district for which it paid Rs1.5 billion to the KPK government for the acquisition of land. Nine year down the road and the new Balakot city is nowhere to be seen though a sum of Rs3 billion has been spent on it and there is no one to take the responsibility for non-completion of the project. Some 3900 families of the Balakot city that was completely ruined are still living in temporary settlements.
The project got delayed by 4 years mainly because of non-procurement of the required land by the KPK government, Brig (Retd) Zafar Hussain Wahla, DG Planning (ERRA) told The News.
“We have recently met the KPK chief minister Pervez Khatak and top officials of his government and in the meeting it was decided that the provincial government would expedite the process to help acquire the remaining land within days,” Mr Wahla said and added: “Still there is no progress.” He said that in 2006, the federal government gave Rs1.5 billion from President’s Relief Fund to the then chief minister of KPK, Mr Akram Durrani on the promise that KPK government would help acquire the required land. The amount has been paid to the locals as per market rates, but they are still not ready to vacate the land.
When contacted Akram Durrani, now serving as federal housing minister, said: “Yes, I had managed Rs4 billion for the earthquake victims and this included money from federal government but I am not in a position to provide details.”
The project’s original cost was Rs12 billion but because of the problems in acquiring the land, the area of the project has now been reduced and if Rs2-3 billion are arranged then this project could be completed but not according to the original design, he said. “Now, we have omitted sectors C and F from the project in the wake of non-availability of land,” ERRA official said. Wahla said that it is technically not true that ERRA has suspended the work on the New Balakot city as the contractor’s machines and equipment are still there and he has no moved away. Instead you can say that the construction work has significantly slowed down. The government has so far spent Rs3 billion of which Rs1.5 billion have been given to the KPK for acquisition of land and Rs1.5 billion have been spent on developing the infrastructure, sewerage and constructing the streets on some land that was acquired.
Zafar Wahla, who also looks after the project, told The News that the cost of the project has gone up by far more than 50 percent because of the inordinate delay in the execution of the project. “We are going to initiate the process of re-assessing the new cost of the project”. He said when the government of Pervez Musharraf had purchased the land the government faced no fiscal constraints. But unfortunately that land could not be handed over to ERRA. “The matter of fact is that ERRA could not get the land vacated and even if it is acquired then two more years would be needed to complete the project provided the required financial supply is ensured,” Wahla said. He said that that at that time Libya had announced $20 million for the project. But after Maummar Qaddafi’s death the amount is no longer available.
“Under the new strategy we have offered the 350 local families occupying the land 2 plots of 10 marla each to each family as incentive for vacating the land,” Wahla said and added: “We have now decided to fist rehabilitate the locals who are occupying the land after which we will complete the project”.
According to the ERRA official, under the original plan, the project was to be completed by July 17, 2010, but as of today only 50 per cent of the project could be completed.
The official said that from September 2009 to October 2010 the construction work remained suspended because of the murder of one person on the site over land dispute.
ERRA has paid Rs1.5 billion for 8500 canals to build new Balakot city, but it is the KPK government that has failed to get the land cleared. The New Balakot City consists of 5 sectors named A, B, C, D, E and F. Eighty per cent construction work in sectors C and D has been completed while other sectors are occupied by the locals. http://www.thenews.com.pk/PrintEdition.aspx?ID=291609&Cat=2&dt=12/22/2014
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