KARACHI: The World Bank has paused implementation of its $200 million Pandemic Response Effectiveness Project (PREP) in Pakistan due to a ‘significant delay” in approvals by local authorities, the lender said, though it clarified that no funds had been withheld.
The global lender approved the project in April 2020 to help Pakistan “take effective and timely action to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic by strengthening the country’s national health care systems and mitigating socioeconomic disruptions.”
But eight months later, Pakistani provincial and federal governments were yet to approve the project’s blueprint, or PC-I (project Cycle-I), which is required to kickstart the project.
“The implementation of the PREP project has been significantly delayed due to the pending PC-I issue,” the Bank said in a statement. “Following Economic Affairs Division’s instruction, Federal and Provincial PC-Is were prepared for the Health component of the project. Due to a significant delay in their approval process, implementation has been on a pause. A restructuring is planned to amend one of the implementing agencies under the project.”
The global lender has also lowered Pakistan’s key implementation ratings for the project to ‘moderately unsatisfactory’ from the previous ‘satisfactory” and ‘moderately satisfactory.’
A Bank representative told Arab News that government approvals were still awaited.
“The activities under the health component are still going through the government approval process,” Mariam Altaf, External Affairs Officer at The World Bank in Islamabad, told Arab News. “No funds are being withheld. Until now, the World Bank has disbursed $79.4 million from the project total of $200 million.”
The collapse of the World Bank project will be a major blow to the South Asian nation where a second, deadlier wave of the coronavirus is picking up momentum, with 3,000 new cases reported for the second day in a row on Thursday.
The World Bank project was meant to help establish quarantine facilities in collaboration with public and private hospitals and supply equipment to hospitals, including ventilators and Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs) for doctors and paramedics.
The funding for the project came from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional credit window for developing countries, of which $100 million was provided through the World Bank Group’s COVID-19 Fast-Track Facility.
Altaf said the Bank “continues to work with government counterparts so that these resources can be used quickly to respond to the current COVID-19 trends in Pakistan, as soon as approval is obtained for this health component.”
“As such, we believe the activities will commence and disbursements will increase shortly after Government approval is obtained,” she added.
World Bank pauses implementation of $200 million Pakistan COVID-19 project
https://arab.news/zxvgg
World Bank pauses implementation of $200 million Pakistan COVID-19 project
- The Pandemic Response Effectiveness Project was approved in April 2020 to help Pakistan fight the coronavirus
- Eight months later, Pakistani provincial and federal governments are yet to approve the project’s blueprint
Pakistan police repel militant attack on Bannu checkpoint, five officers injured
- Police say several attackers killed or wounded in overnight assault in northwest Pakistan
- Incident comes amid surge in militant attacks Pakistan blames on Afghanistan-based groups
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani police said on Friday they repelled an overnight militant attack on a checkpoint in the northwestern district of Bannu, injuring five officers in an area that has seen a sharp rise in militant violence in recent years.
The attack took place late at night at the Sheikh Landak check post, located within the limits of Huweid police station in Bannu, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border. Police said officers responded swiftly, preventing the attackers from overrunning the post.
Militant attacks in Pakistan have surged since 2021, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan, with security forces frequently targeted. Islamabad says the violence is largely driven by groups it refers to as Fitna Al-Khawarij, a term Pakistani authorities use for militants they say are linked primarily to the Pakistani Taliban and allied factions operating from across the border in Afghanistan. Pakistan has also accused India of backing militant networks involved in attacks, allegations New Delhi denies.
“Late at night, terrorists of Fitna Al-Khawarij carried out a cowardly attack on Sheikh Landak check post,” police said in a statement, adding that officers “displayed full courage, bravery and a timely response, successfully foiling the attack.”
Police said effective retaliatory fire caused “heavy human and material losses” to the attackers, with reports of several militants killed or wounded.
Five police personnel sustained minor injuries during the exchange and were immediately shifted to hospital for treatment, where they are receiving medical care, the statement said.
Following the attack, additional police units were deployed to the area and a search operation was launched to locate any remaining attackers.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government of failing to prevent militant groups from using Afghan territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies the allegation, saying it does not allow its soil to be used against any country.
The accusations have added to tensions between the two neighbors, who have also seen periodic border clashes over the past year.
