In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, despite securing a substantial loan amounting to 8.95 billion rupees for two key health projects, both initiatives have been stalled due to poor financial management and administrative negligence. The loans, which were intended to strengthen the healthcare system in the province, were obtained in 2022 from two prominent international financial institutions: the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank. However, neither project has seen any progress, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the provincial government in utilizing external funds for public welfare.
The first of these projects, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Systems Strengthening Program, was granted a loan of 6.22 billion rupees from the ADB in November 2022. Despite the substantial financial backing, the program has not yet been launched, as the required Project Management Unit (PMU) was never established. The lack of a functioning management body has resulted in no progress on the ground, leaving the health sector in the province without the promised upgrades and improvements.
The second project, the National Health Support Program, which was allocated a loan of 2.72 billion rupees from the World Bank, has also faced similar delays. Like the first project, there has been no advancement due to the failure to set up the necessary executing agency. As a result, funds remain unused, and the project is effectively on hold. The audit report for the 2023-24 foreign loans period reveals that no funds were expended, nor were any tangible steps taken to implement either project.
This delay in project execution has led to significant wastage of resources, as the funds sit idle rather than being used to benefit the healthcare infrastructure in the province. The failure to establish the required management and executing bodies has also been flagged as a violation of the loan agreements, as these funds were allocated with specific timelines and expectations of progress.
The lack of progress on these crucial healthcare projects also reflects broader issues in the financial management of the province. It highlights how poor planning and administrative delays can prevent the effective utilization of public funds, which could otherwise be invested in improving the quality of health services for the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The audit report has recommended immediate clarification from the provincial government regarding these delays and called for corrective actions to ensure that future projects are executed on time and resources are used effectively. These recommendations, if implemented, could prevent further disruptions to essential development work in the healthcare sector and ensure that international funds are managed efficiently for the benefit of the public.
Ultimately, the inability to move forward with these projects underscores a larger problem of governance in the province. As the government remains mired in financial mismanagement, the public continues to bear the brunt of these failures, with basic services like healthcare remaining at a standstill despite the availability of significant external funding.
