Friday, September 16, 2022
Pakistan Collected $40 Million For Dam, Spent $63 Million On Its Ad: Report
The Diamer-Bhasha Dam on the Indus River is set to be one of the biggest in Pakistan and intends to solve the flooding problem.
Pakistan recently experienced one of its worst floods, which submerged swathes of the country. Though many climate experts have blamed human-caused climate change for the deluge, fingers are being pointed towards the country's overwhelmed dams. According to a report in Vice News, the proposed Diamer-Bhasha Dam on the Indus River is caught in a scandal. The "mega dam" is supposed to solve many problems for the country, including flooding, a government report has highlighted major flaws in the entire plan.
A report by Pakistan's Parliamentary Affairs Committee (PAC) said that $40 million was raised from the public for the construction of the dam, but $63 million was spent on advertising it, and it's nowhere close to completion.
The dam was originally meant to be completed in the 1980s, but factors like environmental impact and escalating cost kept delaying the project. Then, in 2018, former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar set up a fund for the construction of dam - the cost had escalated to $14 billion by then.
Mr Nisar set up the fund to take donation from people of Pakistan, claiming that they would provide the billions needed for the dam's construction, said the Vice News report.
The contributions started pouring in not just from public but country's cricket team and top musicians. The army and several government employees gave up a portion of their salaries to provide $1 billion, said the outlet.
Imran Khan, who was Pakistan's Prime Minister then, assumed joint leadership of the fund.
When Mr Nisar retired in 2019, there was a shortfall of $6.3 billion, said Vice News. But his fresh comment shocked the people of the country. The now-retired chief justice of Pakistan said the fund was never meant for actually building the dam, but to raise awareness.
The allegations of corruption soon surfaced and many influential Pakistanis started speaking against the "joint venture". A member of Pakistan National Assembly, Ahsan Iqbal, claimed that more amount had been spent on advertising for the dam fund than was raised for it.
The PAC last month summoned Mr Nisar to provide explanation regarding the dam fund that was established during his time.
The Diamer-Bhasha Dam, when constructed, will have a height of 272 metres. According to officials, it will have a power generation capacity of 4,500 megawatts.
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/pakistan-collected-40-million-for-dam-spent-63-million-on-its-ad-report-3349676
Bilawal Bhutto hopes Pakistan will get off FATF grey list, says “we want to tackle terrorism”
Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has expressed hope of his country getting off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
Speaking to ANI, Bilawal Bhutto who is in Samarkand to connection with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, said that Pakistan wants to fight terrorism and extremism and this is a priority not due to FATF listing or the international community but for the people of his country. “We hope that Pakistan will get off the FATF list. We want to tackle terrorism. It is our priority not because of FATF but for the people of Pakistan and also our own resolve,” Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told ANI.Pakistan has been on (Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list since 2018. Pakistan’s record on the flow of funds into terrorist activities has been under sustained scrutiny by FATF. Media reports said that Pakistan had sent a letter to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan days ahead of an inspection by the monitors from FATF seeking the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar Alvi.The FATF-Asia Pacific Group delegation visited Pakistan from August 29 to September 2 to verify the country’s compliance with a 34-point action plan committed with FATF at the highest level. Uzbekistan is the current chair of SCO 2022 whereas India will be the next chair of the SCO. This is the first in-person SCO Summit after the Covid pandemic hit the world. The last in-person SCO Heads of State Summit was held in Bishkek in June 2019. The SCO currently comprises eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), four Observer States interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia) and six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey). The Shanghai Five, formed in 1996, became the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001 with the inclusion of Uzbekistan. With India and Pakistan entering the grouping in 2017 and the decision to admit Tehran as a full member in 2021, SCO became one of the largest multilateral organisations, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the global GDP and 40 per cent of the world’s population.
Speaking to ANI, Bilawal Bhutto who is in Samarkand to connection with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, said that Pakistan wants to fight terrorism and extremism and this is a priority not due to FATF listing or the international community but for the people of his country. “We hope that Pakistan will get off the FATF list. We want to tackle terrorism. It is our priority not because of FATF but for the people of Pakistan and also our own resolve,” Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told ANI.Pakistan has been on (Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list since 2018. Pakistan’s record on the flow of funds into terrorist activities has been under sustained scrutiny by FATF. Media reports said that Pakistan had sent a letter to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan days ahead of an inspection by the monitors from FATF seeking the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar Alvi.The FATF-Asia Pacific Group delegation visited Pakistan from August 29 to September 2 to verify the country’s compliance with a 34-point action plan committed with FATF at the highest level. Uzbekistan is the current chair of SCO 2022 whereas India will be the next chair of the SCO. This is the first in-person SCO Summit after the Covid pandemic hit the world. The last in-person SCO Heads of State Summit was held in Bishkek in June 2019. The SCO currently comprises eight Member States (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), four Observer States interested in acceding to full membership (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia) and six “Dialogue Partners” (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey). The Shanghai Five, formed in 1996, became the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2001 with the inclusion of Uzbekistan. With India and Pakistan entering the grouping in 2017 and the decision to admit Tehran as a full member in 2021, SCO became one of the largest multilateral organisations, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of the global GDP and 40 per cent of the world’s population.
https://theprint.in/world/bilawal-bhutto-hopes-pakistan-will-get-off-fatf-grey-list-says-we-want-to-tackle-terrorism/1131351/