NWFP for quarterly payments from Wapda

PESHAWAR: The NWFP government has asked the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) to ensure payment of the due amount to the province on a quarterly basis.

The Wapda has to pay the province Rs6 billion on yearly basis. The amount is not paid on a regular basis, sometimes causing long delay in payment to the cash-strapped province. The official sources said the provincial government had sent a letter to the Wapda authorities and the federal government to ensure payment of the amount on quarterly basis keeping in view the financial and economic situation of the province.

They said Rs1.5 billion amount, which was due to be paid by Wapda to the province as the last tranche for the year 2008-2009 was released recently and that too after sending three letters to the federal government.

The sources said the provincial government was faced with financial problems mainly because of the downfall of its economy caused by the rising militancy and insurgency in the tribal as well as settled areas.

They said the provincial government, both formally and informally, had told the Centre that the province was faced with serious financial crunch and it might be bailed out only when the federal government as well as its relevant organs released all the due amounts in time.

“This is why the Wapda has been asked to ensure the payment of amount to the provincial government on a quarterly basis in four equal installments,” said the source. Recently, the NWFP government has also demanded of the Centre to increase its share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) by five per cent mentioning the anti-terror war, the displacement of a large number of people and the losses suffered by economy because of the militancy and insurgency as the main reasons.

According to officials, the NWFP was not only facing problems because of fighting in Swat and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, but also the IDPs from tribal areas as well as the presence of Afghan refugees here was an extra burden on the weak economy of the province. Many businesses have been closed and investors have withdrawn money and shifted to Punjab or other parts of the country because of the prevailing lawlessness in the province.