ISLAMABAD: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) on Thursday came under severe criticism at a meeting of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) over poor project management, lack of transparency, weak oversight mechanisms, massive cost overruns and delays in two mega critical water projects worth over Rs802 billion — Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Tarbela 5th Extension.
The technical team of the Planning Commission and Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal expressed serious concern over the non-submission of project feasibilities and revised cost estimates for more than six years, as well as attempts to hush up inquiries into alleged mismanagement and corruption. They demanded that both inquiry reports be shared without further delay.
In a rare strongly-worded public statement, the Planning Commission said the CDWP referred the Tarbela 5th Extension Project (T5), now costing Rs316.4bn against the original Rs82bn estimate, to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) for further consideration.
While discussing T5, the minister “expressed serious concerns over the project’s management, transparency, and oversight mechanisms”. He observed that the professional capability of the concerned staff appeared questionable, adding that the Ministry of Water Resources had also pointed out shortcomings in its inquiry report.
