Pakistan - Punjab Govt's Arbitrary style

The Punjab government signed an agreement with Chinese investors for the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project during the recent Chinese president’s visit. Its estimated cost is over $ 165 billion. The Planning Commission has raised serious objections over the hurried manner in which the agreement was signed without following the proper rules and procedure. Projects of over Rs 300 million must be vetted and approved by the Planning Commission, which in this case has merely been used as a rubber stamp. This pattern of project approval is not new to the Punjab government. The signal-free corridor on Jail Road/Main Gulberg, and the Canal Road project that threatened to destroy the green belt in Lahore, and even the Metro Bus projects are cases in point. These projects are worth billions of dollars and obviously have a serious impact on the province and the country’s straitened finances. All the more reason then for institutions like the Planning Commission to be allowed as per the rules to vet such endeavours on the touchstone of feasibility and priority. Adding to reservations regarding this approach to development, the $ 1.63 billion loan for the Orange Line project carries an exorbitant interest rate of 45 percent. This has raised additional concerns regarding its cost and feasibility, and it is not enough for the Punjab government to shrug off these concerns by arguing that it will be repaying the loan from its own resources and therefore Planning Commission approval is only a formality.

The Planning Commission cannot be ignored, kept in the dark or not allowed time and the requisite documents to examine the project thoroughly. Whether the project is part of the Federal Public Sector plan or not, its details need to be made transparently clear with all documents in accordance with the rules of procedure. No provincial government can be allowed to arbitrarily ignore state institutions set up for the purpose such as the Planning Commission before embarking on major projects without even a nod in the direction of the rules of business. China may be our generous friend, but this project not having gone through the necessary international tendering process could become the subject of a legal challenge down the road. It seems the Punjab government has failed to learn anything from the Lahore signal-free corridor debacle and is still wedded to its arbitrary style of work in violation of the state’s rules, procedures and laws.