Islamabad: The Supreme Court (SC) has directed that the funds collected for the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dam projects be transferred from the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) special account to the Public Account of the Federation. The information has been taken from an article on October 18.
According to the details, the court also ordered that the SBP account in which the funds were held be closed. A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, issued the order following a review of applications concerning advertisements for fundraising by UBL and HBL for the dam projects. According to the SBP’s report submitted to the SC, the total amount in the Dam Fund as of October 4, 2024, stood at PKR 23.67 billion, with PKR 11.47 billion collected and PKR 12.19 billion accrued in mark-up.
The court instructed that once the funds are transferred, they should be invested in high-rated private banks to continue earning interest, with the amount and its mark-up available for dam construction when needed.
The SC also noted that the total funds constitute only 3.2% of the PKR 740 billion required to build both dams. The court further observed that a previously formed Implementation Bench, established to monitor the dam projects, did not examine WAPDA’s progress reports and is now defunct due to the retirement of its members. As a result, unless otherwise directed, WAPDA is no longer required to submit further progress reports to the court.
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