Tag Archives: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Five blocks awarded to KPOGCL

on 20/08/2017

Oil & gas: Center vs Provinces

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Oil and Gas Company Limited (KPOGCL) has been awarded five blocks for exploring oil and gas in the province. The move has worried the Federal Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources  FMPN which claims it cannot be done with competitive bidding.

It is the very first award which the concerned ministry has not given nod for. Rather, it says it has not given clearance for as many as 41 blocks yet to be explored. Only the one called desert has been cleared.

The ministry has written to the defense division, which has issued NOC for the award the blocks cannot be awarded to the company without competitive bidding. The blocks where NOC has been issued include Dera Ismail Khan East Block, Miran Block, Lakki Block, Nowshera Block and Dera Ismail Khan West Block.

Director General Petroleum Concessions (DGPC) has reportedly said in his communication with the ministry that none of the 41 blocks except “the desert” had been cleared. It because of this reason the ministry has not been able to initiate the bidding process for awards of the blocks.

DG. PC claimed that the subject of oil and gas is included in part-II of Federal Legislative List (FLL) and, as per constitution, the executive authority on the matter rested with the federal government.

KPOGCL may be one of the companies, which may participate in bidding round either as operator or non-operator. Therefore, the blocks cannot be awarded to the company without competitive bidding.

The role and function of the provincial directors are subject to administrative control of the undersigned and therefore they cannot interact with any ministry/ division/department/ institution without prior written approval of the DG PC.

As a matter of principle, the provincial directors are not allowed to issue letter to any federal ministry/division/department and can only liaison with the government of the concerned province, the letter said.

DG PC has asked the defence division to confirm that clearance of five blocks mentioned at para-5 above is not specific to the KPOGCL and that this ministry may initiate a competitive bidding process after which block will be granted to successful bidders.

Officials in KP view the situation differently and believe the letter was in sheer violation of the constitution which has given equal rights to the federal and provincial governments regarding management of oil and gas sector.

Article 172(3) of the Constitution inserted through the 18th Amendment defines the ownership of provinces and the federal government in mineral oil and natural gas.

They said that in pursuance of Article 172(3), the Council of Common Interest (CCI) approved Petroleum Policy 2012 formulated by Ministry of Petroleum, Directorate General of Petroleum Concessions DGPC has to be reorganised.

Provinces have been making requests for the reorganization of the directorate but all went in vain. The federal government has to enable a more proactive management of resources through establishment of a reorganised DGPC comprising of a federal and provincial representatives with federal director as ex-officio director general and providing the necessary control and procedures to enhance the effective management of Pakistan’s petroleum reserves.

Provinces say the federal government has failed to implement one of the more important clause of the Petroleum Policy 2012, which is in total violation of the 18th amendment and contempt to the Council of Common Interest (CCI)’s decision.

It merits mentioning that Sindh, Baluchistan and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have appointed provincial directors but DGPC is not paying salaries to them.

CDWP approves Karachi, Peshawar mass transit programs

on 23/05/2017

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has cleared for the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) two major mass transit programs one for Karachi and the other for Peshawar. The moot approved a total of16 development projects costing Rs130 billion. The two projects (in Karachi and Peshawar) which are part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are expected to be formally approved on the sidelines of upcoming One Belt, One Road conference in China this month. Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal presided over the CWDP meeting in Islamabad. The other projects are related to energy, transport and communication, water resources and manpower. Also, the moot approved concept clearance papers of two projects such as Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway (M6) worth Rs238bn and Sindh Renewable Energy Development Project (SREDP) $122 million. Four major projects of transport and communication sectors costing Rs.102 billion were recommended keeping in view the approval limits of the CDWP.The meeting which gave its nod on revival of Karachi Circular Railway (Rs27.6bn) asked the provincial government for rationalization of the cost. Also it would be ensured that the stations and other buildings to be constructed under the project matched the historical architecture of Karachi. Under the project, 43.2km double railway track would be constructed besides 24 stations. The meeting also approved Rs56.8bn for Peshawar Sustainable Bus Rapid Transit Corridor Project of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government. The project, planned to be constructed with Rs48bn loan from the ADB, envisaged construction of 25.8km-long road track, 32 stations with commercial buildings and other allied facilities. The project, planned to be executed in 12 months, is expected to facilitate 472,000 people per day in its initial phase. The meeting also approved Karachi Neighborhood Improvement Project (KNIP) worth Rs10.5bn, a four-lane bridge across River Indus connecting Kallur Kot Bhakkar with Dhakki area of Dera Ismail Khan costing Rs7bn, a 30-megwatt Hydro Power Project in Ghowari in Gilgit Baltistan costing Rs7.9bn besides six water related projects worth Rs6.6bn which include three small dams.

Early warning system offered for Peshawar

on 01/03/2017

The Al-Khidmat Foundation has offered to finance early warning system for Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which is a disaster-prone city in the province. The offer came during a group discussion on `multiple hazards vulnerability and risk assessment of Peshawar district` the organization said it would install early warning system if the district government provided land for it. The Al-Khidmat Foundation and Riphah University jointly organised the event, which was attended by academicians and officials of the relevant departments. The system costs around Rs30 million and also requires one kanal of land. Though prone to multiple disasters, including flash floods, riverine and urban flooding, Peshawar doesn`t have an early warning system for them. Dr Attaur Rehman, who teaches at the Department of Geography, University of Peshawar, says the rapid and unplanned urbanisation will swallow the entire agricultural land of Peshawar district in the next 50 years. `There is a need for a specific legislation to immediately stop the conversion of agricultural land into residential and commercial areas in Peshawar district otherwise there will be no farmland left in the next 50 years,` he said. The data collected by the revenue department show that the rapid urbanisation and unplanned construction have swallowed more than 3,307 acres of agricultural land in Peshawar district over the last one and a half decade. According to it, the total agricultural land in the provincial capital was 109,883 acres in 2001-02 but that shrank to 106,576 acres in 2013-14. The agricultural land is also under pressure in the adjoining districts of Nowshera and Charsadda due to the unplanned urbanisation. The government has yet to legislate on how to regulate utilisation of land and stop conversion of farmlands into commercial activities. Dr Rehman said Peshawar was among the top districts exposed to the multiple manmade and natural disasters as it did not have any system to forecast nullah flooding. He said the national warning system did not cover streams and seasonal nullahs of Peshawar, which saw devastations caused by urban and riverine floods every year. Khan Zeb, an official of the Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar, said the situation was deteriorating due to non-implementation of the building bylaws in the district. He called for the implementation of the relevant laws to prevent urban flooding in the capital. The official said the level of groundwater in the district was also going down. A joint declaration issued after the discussion said the environmental degradation and climate change had increased the likelihood and intensity of natural hazards in Peshawar and other parts of the country. It demanded one per cent budget allocation for climate change adaptation in the next financial year and the use of 50 per cent of it for mapping and assessment related research and development. The declaration suggested that aH projects related to the proposed China Pakistan Economic Corridor include prior environmental assessments and hazard mapping in line with the NDMA`s National DRR Policy 2013 with the effective DRR plans on all CPEC routes. It called for the establishment of independent district disaster management units fully equipped with trained people and autonomous in implementing the guidelines in all 105 districts of the country.