Salal Ameen Shahwani
Awaran, a district in Balochistan, was hit by 7.1 magnitude earthquake twice on September 24 and 28 in 2013 and left thousands of people roofless. Many settlements get destroyed and over 500 people died and over 700 sustained injuries.
Planning Commission of Pakistan approved an allocation of Rs. 4 billion for reconstruction of 16,000 houses collapsed in earthquake. 80 percent of funds were supposed to be spent on house reconstruction units and 20 percent on providing solar energy.
It was agreed that government would provide Rs. 220,000 to each individual whose house had collapsed in earthquake and people had to rebuild their houses in accordance with their own wishes.
Initially, no officer with adequate experience was willing to take up the assignment of supervision of project. But then, Aziz Jamali, a civil servant who had served five years in earthquake affected areas of Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after 2005 earthquake, volunteered for the job as Project Director. His experience in rehabilitation and reconstruction made him an obvious choice as Project Director of Housing Reconstruction Awaran (HRA).
Project caught the eye of some influential politicians from Balochistan and procurement provided an opportunity for some “speed money.”
Housing project of Awaran district fell prey to political meddling and cronyism. A few housing units were completed in record time. But then the inevitable happened to project when the procurement of solar panels for the completed housing units was tendered. Why? Because the project caught the eye of some influential politicians from Balochistan and procurement provided an opportunity for some “speed money.” After all, many contractors were ready to grease the palms to land an overpriced tender; even launching a dummy corporation would provide a great business opportunity.
However, the only problem in this flawless plan was the Project Director, who being an upright man would not agree to be part of racket. He was asked to put off hiring of staff and tenders for procurement so that things could be manipulated to accommodate personal choices. When the officer resisted such moves, he was made Officer on Special Duty (OSD) without any reason given for his unceremonious removal.
Seeing the fearlessness initiative and drive shown by the team involved in the HRA, one thought that the Project Director might even be considered for a national award but what happened was exactly contrary.
It is ironic that province’s Chief Minister and Chief Secretary had applauded the performance of the Project Director and expressed deep satisfaction at the pace of work. Needless to say, they will never take a stand against the political influence.
That has led to mishandling of the HRA project because the penniless people who would suffer can do no harm, in this life at least.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and Balochistan Voices not necessarily agrees with them.
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