By Moaaz Manzoor

Spending on 10 projects under the federal Kohlu Development Package has reached Rs7.915 billion against their combined approved cost of Rs7.958 billion, with roads accounting for the overwhelming share of the development portfolio.

According to a document available with Wealth Pakistan, the package covers road, education, healthcare, electricity, water-supply and irrigation projects in Balochistan’s Kohlu district.

The document places these development interventions within the broader context of the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package, which the federal government announced in November 2009 to promote the development of Balochistan. The package was designed to address constitutional, political, administrative and economic development issues in the province.

Within the Kohlu package, the largest project is the construction of the Sibi-Rakhni Road via Maiwand, covering the Talli-Kohlu section from kilometre 24 to kilometre 164. The project’s approved cost and reported expenditure both stand at Rs6.545 billion.

Another Rs222.245 million has been spent on constructing various blacktop roads connecting different villages with the main Kohlu town. The amount equals the project’s approved cost.

The construction of a bypass road at Kohlu has also recorded expenditure of Rs197.860 million, matching its approved cost.

The education component includes a cadet college and a government inter girls’ college. The establishment of the Cadet College in Kohlu district had an approved cost of Rs218.754 million, all of which was reported as expenditure.

The Government Inter Girls’ College in Kohlu had an approved cost of Rs125 million, against which expenditure stood at Rs102.096 million.

In the healthcare sector, the establishment of a 50-bed hospital in Kohlu district carried an approved cost of Rs225.704 million, with reported expenditure reaching Rs205.094 million.

The power component includes the construction of a 132-kilovolt grid station at Kohlu, with its approved cost and expenditure both recorded at Rs330.043 million.

Another Rs10 million was spent on installing an 11-kilovolt Tamboo feeder to Mast Tawalki in Kohlu district, equal to the project’s approved cost.

The package also supported water-supply and irrigation infrastructure. The Kohlu water-supply scheme recorded expenditure of Rs67.584 million against the same approved cost.

Similarly, expenditure on the Kahan Irrigation Scheme in Kohlu district reached Rs16.434 million, matching its approved cost.

The document shows that expenditure equalled the approved cost for eight of the 10 listed projects. The two exceptions were the 50-bed hospital and the Government Inter Girls’ College. Together, these projects account for the Rs43.514 million difference between the package’s total approved cost of Rs7.958 billion and its reported expenditure of Rs7.915 billion.

Different federal and provincial ministries and agencies initiated actions under the package. The Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Division’s role was related to development projects and programmes funded or to be funded through the federal Public Sector Development Programme.

The document states that the federal government gives priority to less-developed parts of the country, particularly Balochistan, through development projects implemented by federal and provincial sponsoring and executing agencies under the federal PSDP.

Credit: INP-WealthPk