Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has constituted public-private partnership policy and monitoring board under P&D department to speedily implement public welfare schemes. The first meeting of this board was held under the chair of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar at his office in which implementation on mega projects was given approval and appointment of Dr Muhammad Junaid Ashraf was approved as director executive committee of this board. Recruitment of human resource for public-private partnership policy and monitoring board was given approval along with the approval of establishment of weaving city in industrial city Faisalabad through PPP mode. This project would be completed with an amount of Rs4.50 billion and Faisalabad’s power looms industry will be shifted to weaving city. Zero-rating tax will be implemented for PPP mode projects and line departments will take necessary steps in this regard. The meeting gave approval to setting up of combined effluent treatment plants in Sundar Industrial Estate and Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate Lahore with a total amount of Rs6 billion. The meeting also approved installation of one million water meters in Lahore with an amount of Rs10 billion. The southern loop-III project of Lahore Ring Road was given approval which would be completed with an amount of around Rs10 billion. The meeting approved dualization of Chiniot-Pindi Bhattian Road along with provision of project development facility which would also be provided to Lai Expressway Project. On the occasion, repair and maintenance projects of Gujrat-Jalalpur Jattan Road, Mianwali-Muzaffargarh Road and Faisalabad-Chiniot-Sargodha Road were approved along with the approval of schemes relating to Multan-Vehari Road, Lilla Interchange to Jhelum Road, Tirinda Pannah Muhammad Din-KLM-Head Punjnad Road, Depalpur-Okara Road, Samundari-Jhang Road and Shakargarh-Zafarwal Road.
Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said that constitution of public-private partnership policy and monitoring board will help to accelerate the implementation of development schemes. Now the investors will not have to move from pillar to post as needful will be done under one roof. The expertise of private-sector experts will also be benefitted upon and the delay in mega public welfare projects will come to an end. I will personally monitor the progress made on PPP mode projects, concluded the chief minister. The board secretary Dr Farrukh Naveed gave a briefing and the meeting was told that projects worth Rs389 billion are in the pipeline under the public-private partnership. Provincial ministers Hashim Jawan Bakht, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Sardar Asif Nakai, Advisor Dr Salman Shah, assembly members Sajid Ahmad Khan and Mian Shafi Muhammad, Chief Secretary, Chairman P&D and others attended the meeting.