KP govt to up work on foreign-funded projects

PESHAWAR: The KP government on Friday decided to accelerate the pace of work on the ongoing foreign-funded projects.

Caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan made the decision as in a meeting with Federal Secretary for Economic Affairs Division Kazim Niaz and a representative of the Asian Development Bank for Pakistan, said a handout.

Matters related to foreign-funded projects being executed in the province, especially in the merged districts, came under discussion.KP Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry and Additional Chief Secretary Imtiaz Hussain Shah were also present on the occasion.

There was an understanding that special steps were needed to speed up work on the ongoing foreign-funded projects in the province to ensure their completion in the stipulated time frame.

It was decided that the caretaker chief minister would hold monthly progress review meetings to speed up work on these projects.The chief secretary will make arrangements for bridging the funding gap so that these projects are executed without any interruption. The additional chief secretary was directed to take necessary steps to remove the bottlenecks to execution of the projects.

The issues that could not be resolved at the level of additional chief secretary, will be taken up at higher level.It was agreed to identify new development projects to be executed under foreign funding in the newly merged tribal districts.

The chief minister directed the officials concerned to identify the development projects which could benefit the maximum population.He termed the foreign-funded projects as of public importance, and said that the benefits of these projects should reach the target population without any delay.Azam Khan directed them to take all necessary steps to ensure completion of the projects within the stipulated timelines.