Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has made a decision to borrow a loan of PKR 99 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ABD) for the local government department, according to a news source published on 9th April.
According to the details, the loan will be the largest the province has borrowed till date and will be used for the betterment of living standards in five major cities, namely, Swat, Peshawar, Mardan, Abbottabad and Kohat. The project is named ‘Khyber Paktunkhwa Cities Improvement Project’ and said project aims to provide clean drinking water, sanitation services and basic facilities in the aforementioned cities. Additionally, improvement to the draining system and water treatment plans as well as setup of dumping sites for wastes and public parks are also planned.
The ADB will provide the loan amount in phases over the next five years and furthermore, a separate loan of PKR 500 million was approved for the provincial government. As per the report prepared by the ADB, special focus will be directed to the more underprivileged sections of the society and the project will introduce special scholarships and training projects for females living in the selected districts. Lastly, an estimated PKR 3.447 billion will be disbursed on the established of a project management unit which is to be completed in the next five years with the collaboration of water and sanitation services companies and Tehsil Municipal Administrations (TMAs).
