The committee met with Senator Agha Shahzeb Durrani in the chair here at Parliament House on Thursday. The committee discussed 100 small dams in Balochistan, the progress on construction of Hakla-DI Khan Road, establishment of Centre of Excellency of Mathematical Sciences in University of Peshawar and inquiry report of Planning Commission on water desalination plant at Gwadar.
The committee recommended to increase the number of dams in Balochistan and complete ongoing 100 dams' project before 2026 and to release the required amount of Rs 1.2 billion as soon as possible.
The committee also expressed its displeasure over the non-functional water desalination plant in Gwadar after spending an amount of Rs 1 billion from the national exchequer and referred an inquiry report of Planning Commission to National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
According to the report, during the course of visit, it has been noted that the plant has been abandoned and non-operational. Thereby, the facility established through hard-earned taxpayers' money is harnessing no tangible benefits to the citizens of Gwadar.
It has also been learnt bathymetric survey and oceanographic survey were not conducted by the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) to pinpoint the appropriate location of intake pipe.
The report said that the plant is completely closed and Gwadar residents do not benefit from it, while no measures have been taken for the maintenance of the plant by relevant organisations.
The committee appreciated the Ministry of Planning and Development and referred the report to the NAB so that it could be implemented against the responsible persons.
Leader of the House in the Senate Shibli Faraz said that the Hakla-DI Khan Road is extremely important and it is necessary to remove the backwardness of the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by improving the road network and communication system.
Referring to the establishment of Centre of Excellence of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Peshawar, he said that the establishment of this kind of centre will create a platform in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which will benefit the entire province and the importance of mathematics will be highlighted.
The committee was informed that there is no funding in PSDP for this project in the current financial year, and in this regard, Higher Education Commission will submit PC-1 to Ministry of Planning and Development for which budget will be kept in the next fiscal year.
Senator Mir Kabir Ahmed Mohammad Shahi strongly condemned the slowdown in establishing the campuses of Balochistan University in Qalat and said that despite arranging a building in Qalat, the people are being deprived of this facility. The committee stressed urgent resolution of this issue.
The meeting was attended by Senators Gyan Chand, Engineer Rukhsana Zubari, Dilawar Khan, Dr Asad Ashraf, Mir Kabir Ahmed Mohammad Shahi, Syed Shibli Faraz, Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar and Ahmed Khan, besides secretary planning and development and other high-level officers of relevant institutions.