World Bank requested not to cancel funds for economic revitalisation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Fata

ISLAMABAD: Following threats of cancellation of grant worth $27 million, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra has swung into action and a request has been made to the World Bank (WB) not to terminate the Revitalisation of KP and Fata (ERKF) and the Rural Livelihoods and Community Infrastructure Project (RLCIP).

The WB has been assured that its concerns will be addressed upfront and conditionality will be met on an urgent basis.

However, WB Communications Officer Mehreen Saeed, in a written reply, said: “We understand that Fata secretariat is addressing our concerns and look forward to their earlier resolution. It is paramount that beneficiaries are supported without any interruption through swift decisions.”

In a letter last month, the WB had warned Mr Jhagra that the province could lose at least $27m meant for economic revitalisation of the province and the tribal areas, if the government did not approve PC-1s for the two key donor-funded projects.

Efforts begin for approval of PC-1s for two key donor-funded projects
The Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) is one of the largest donor pools created to fund reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts to help secure livelihoods for families affected by military operations carried out in 2009 and onwards.

The letter dated Feb 24, written by World Bank’s Country Director Patcha­muthu Illangovan, said that if the PC-1s for ERKF and RLCIP were not approved immediately, the WB would issue one-month termination notices, in anticipation of their closure on March 31.

The letter pointed out the political wrangling going on in the projects launched under the MDTF and said that 64 officers were terminated last year and they had already sought a temporary stay order from court.

The governor was requested to give his personal attention to the completion of PC-1s so that the funds that were to be provided for these projects by the WB could be processed by the end of March.

Mr Jhagra had taken notice of the letter and, while seeking explanation from the additional chief secretary and principal secretary to the governor, wrote on the letter, available with Dawn, “This is very important and top urgent. Please speak and explain why is this delay taking place and replacement staff issues.”

Director general projects of Fata Secretariat Islam Zeb, while talking to Dawn, claimed that the KP governor had been informed that there was a delay of just one week, as WB wanted to get the PC-1s approved on Feb 28. However, it will be approved by March 9.

“When the matter came into the media, last month, the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) also contacted us and during a meeting we informed EAD that PC-1s were delayed by just one week as we wanted to include some new schemes,” he said.

“Moreover, we are also continuously in touch with the WB and it has been requested to wait for another 10 days as PC-1s will be approved by March 9,” Mr Zeb said.

However, an official of Fata Secretariat, requesting anonymity, alleged that the KP governor was not being informed about the facts.

“Staff has been trying to misguide that the funding is not available with the WB and that is why project has been delayed. The fact is that the funding will be released after the approval of the PC-1s, which couldn’t be approved since September last year,” he said.

“Because of red-tapism projects are delayed in the country. It was the reason that 13 countries, rather than giving funding to the government of Pakistan, decided to give the administration to WB so that the projects could not be delayed,” he said.

“Though a meeting of the Fata Development Working Party (FDWP) will be held on March 9, staff of the projects is not sure that the PC-1s will be approved as there are rumours that some bureaucrats want to divert the funding towards the Governance Support Project (GSP) under which bureaucrats have foreign trips in the name of capacity building,” he said.

Source: Dawn