Poor planning mars infrastructural developments

LAHORE: After 18th amendment most of the development projects came under the ambit of provinces. However, the approach of all the provinces on infrastructure projects execution is different. The difference lies in planning, contract terms and inadequate controls.

Provinces that plan projects poorly and award contracts on unbalanced terms and conditions, experience delays and cost overruns. Even the contractors that are richly experienced in certain projects find themselves helpless if the government fails to release funds according to the agreed schedule in the contract.

Delay in large infrastructure projects is, however, a global phenomenon as a creditable database from around the world reveals that large infrastructure projects, like mining, oil and gas on an average consume more than 80 percent of the budget, and are delayed by 20 months over the schedule. However, world over numerous huge infrastructure projects have been completed on time and within the budget.  The North East rail line project of Singapore is one recent example and Mangla Dam project in 60’s is perhaps the only Pakistani mega project that was completed within budget and time.

Some planners that are very particular about managing the budget and schedule compromise of the actual plan and make changes to diminish the capacity of the project to complete it in time and within the budgeted amount. This is not a prudent approach because the expected returns from the project would be much less than the originally planned, keeping in mind the future needs of the area or country. For instance, if the capacity of an airport or a highway is reduced from the original plan these may handle the traffic for a while but would soon become congested as the country progresses. There will be a need to build another similar project in the next five to 10 years. And, its cost would be much higher than additional cost that would have been incurred on the original plan. It is, therefore, necessary to factor in all the elements before launching a project.

The Punjab is a typical example of both successfully executed projects, like the Lahore Metro project and a hastily-launched project, like Orange Line Metro Train that has been lingering on because of the hurdles yet to be overcome. The cost overrun of this project would be very high.

Khyber PakhtunKhwa is another example of bad planning when it announced to build a Metro in Peshawar on political grounds without planning. Even after three years, the project is still in infancy with costs going up.   Sindh is another example where projects are left incomplete halfway, increasing the miseries of its citizens. The Chine-Pakistan Economic Corridor’s road infrastructure in Balochistan is being executed by Frontier Works Organization because of the security challenges.

The state should launch all the projects after careful planning and factoring in ways to remove all the hurdles in their execution. Project owners should then appoint someone to monitor how well a project meets all the requirements.  Each project has a different delivery method but public sector projects stick to the monotonous delivery method.  It makes much more sense to evaluate each project and then decide which method is most appropriate.

One point that government organisations fail to appreciate is that their relationship with designers and contractors is fraught with risks and they should be willing to share these risks with them.  Generally, the profit margins of infrastructure companies are very low.