Land acquisition for Adiala STP: Loan only after settlers paid well, ADB tells REIP

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Ongoing water, sewerage schemes worth Rs 5.14bn hang in balance
* Govt insists payment to settlers should be in line with revenue policy

By Aamir Yasin

RAWALPINDI: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has refused to release further installments of the Rs 5.14 billion loan to the Rawalpindi Environmental Improvement Project (REIP) for water and sewerage schemes until it settles a payment row with the Adiala settlers over land acquisition for the sewage treatment plant’s (STP) construction.

The move is a result of the settlers’ complaints about low payment for their land being acquired for the STP construction by the REIP.

They had complained to a recent ADB team during a visit to Adiala that they were being offered Rs 85,000 per kanal against the land’s market price of Rs 120,000 per kanal.

According to them, their agricultural land has wrongly been declared non-agriculture land.

Now, the REIP projects hang in balance, as the provincial government insists it’ll make payments to the settlers in line with its revenue policy.

Besides slow-paced land acquisition for the ASTP project, the ADB had also expressed dissatisfaction with long delays in the laying of waterlines and sewers.

Work on the Rs 5.14 billion schemes meant to improve clean drinking water’s supply and sewerage system in the city got underway in 2006 but only 25 percent of it has been completed so far. The 2011 deadline has been set for the purpose.

The ADB is supplying 70 percent funding for these schemes, while the remaining expenditures are being borne by the provincial government.

It’s learnt that the provincial government officials are in constant contact with the ADB representatives to ensure early release of due loan tranche.

The government has appointed Aslam Sabzwari the REIP coordinator to check slow pace of work and land acquisition.

Meanwhile, sources said that the REIP had yet to settle a dispute over the STP project’s cost sharing with Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB).

They said the RCB had refused to share the project cost citing unavailability of funds as a reason. It, however, insists the REIP should treat sewage of its areas at Adiala STP.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg11_1