The State has received an amount of $ 250 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as loan assistance to revamp the power sector.

Environment experts at a workshop in the city yesterday underlined the need for formulating a specific policy to manage industrial hazardous waste properly for ensuring sustainable and environment-fri

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is helping Pakistan craft, a comprehensive energy efficiency policy and investment programme to meet the growing energy demands of an expanding economy and population.

A water supply scheme costing Rs. 3,500 million is to be constructed for the benefit of 50,000 families in the Muttur area.

Criticism of the ADB adds to recent concerns voiced by the US.

The government should partially withdraw energy subsidy to divert the money to public spending on safety net for the vulnerable groups, said the top official of the Asian Development Bank in Dhaka on Sunday. Under-pricing of energy sources, including fuel and gas, results in a huge deficit in the government's budget and multilateral lending agencies have time and again recommended upward adjustment of prices to reduce losses incurred by agencies like the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.

Federal government will provide 200 bulldozers for Balochistan and 100 for NWFP, which would be hired out to the farmers at no profit no loss basis to facilitate them in reclaiming the cultivable wasteland. According to the sources in Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal), around 219,375 hectares of cultivable wasteland (NWFP 73,125 and Balochistan 146,250 hectares) would be reclaimed through the use of 300 bulldozers. This will enhance agricultural production in the NWFP and Balochistan provinces, sources said. According to an update Minfal study, about 8.12 million hectares of land falls in the category of cultivable wasteland out of which 1.22 and 4.0 million hectares are in NWFP and Balochistan respectively. Provincial Agriculture Engineering Departments need additional machinery and 900 bulldozers to reclaim the cultivable wasteland. Minfal sources mentioned that agricultural growth is key to curtailing poverty since poor heavily rely on agricultural goods and services for their livelihood. In line with the objectives of PRSP, Minfal has approved a number of projects for crop maximisation to reduce poverty and food insecurity in Pakistan in PSDP 2006-07. A number of projects assisted by ADB, FAO and UN/WFP for crop maximisation, increasing food security and promoting poverty alleviation are also under implementation. Sources said that government has given top priority to the development of water resources to maximise crop production. This has been done through progressively increasing surface water supplies and conserving water using the latest technologies and protecting land and infrastructure from water logging, salinity, floods and soil erosion. The main objectives are overcoming the scarcity of water through augmentation and conservation means ie by construction of medium and large dams and by efficient utilisation of irrigation water and restoring the productivity of agricultural land through control of water logging, salinity and floods, sources added. They said that an integrated programme approach for water management has been adopted. On-farm Water Management (OFWM) projects have been implemented on community participation basis in the provinces, AJ&K and Federal Agencies. Water conservation is being ensured under the President's programme for the improvement and lining of watercourses. This programme envisaged lining improvement of 87,000 watercourses at a cost of Rs 66 billion within 3-4 years. This initiative will significantly improve water supply at the farm-gate through reduction in the seepage losses. During the year 2006-07, 18,390 watercourses have been lined and renovated against the target of 18,000 watercourses. Minfal sources stated that the government has fulfilled most of the commitments related to different WTO-specific agreements. Pakistan has already started improving quality and standards of agricultural export commodity markets. Imposition of strict Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) measures and adoption of other significant regulatory steps through the Department of Plant Protection helped increase agricultural exports to the developed countries. Different development projects for the strengthening of laboratories for quality control have been initiated. For grading of agriculture and livestock commodities, grade standards of about 50 commodities, under Grading and Marketing Act, were developed. According to the Minfal study agriculture sector in Pakistan is facing many serious challenges and constraints for future growth. These challenges are embedded in (i) the rising demand for agricultural products with the growth of population and incomes; (ii) the expanding role of free and competitive markets in agriculture trade at the national and international levels. Increased farm productivity, achieved by sustainable use of natural resources and other inputs, and diversification of production from the low value to high value products in response to market demand have to be the key ingredients of future agriculture strategy to make agriculture both productive and profitable; (iii) wide yield gaps in major and minor crops, inefficient use of water at farms, poor quality and availability of agricultural inputs, frequent insect and pest attacks and high incidence of crop and livestock diseases require effective resolution; and (iv) strengthening of agriculture research system is needed to focus more on emerging areas such as biotechnology, genetic engineering, hybrid seeds etc. Improving agricultural knowledge system for effective crop forecasting, and undertaking market reforms in preparation of expanding trade regimes of WTO and Safta are other areas in which Minfal is currently focusing on. Copyright Business Recorder, 2008

Japan and Bangladesh signed an agreement in Tokyo yesterday concerning Japanese loan assistance of US$ 65 million for 'emergency disaster damage rehabilitation' project in the country. Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, who is now visiting Japan, and Masahiko Koumura, minister for foreign affairs of Japan, signed the agreement after their bilateral meeting, said a release from the Japan embassy. Japanese Ambassador Masayuki Inoue pledged the loan to Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam last month. The rehabilitation project under the loan will be started following the signed agreement. Asian Development Bank (ADB) is co-financing the loan. The objective of the project is to support 'quick restoration of economic and social activity' in the areas damaged by the floods and cyclone, through providing quick-disbursement type of import financing for essential agricultural commodities. Rehabilitating and reconstructing damaged public infrastructure, thereby contributing to sustainable economic growth, are also among the objectives. Japan has been assisting disaster mitigation and damage recovery of Bangladesh for long. For recovery from the damage caused by cyclone Sidr, Japan already has provided emergency relief goods equivalent to about US$ 327,100 and emergency grant aid through UN agencies equivalent to US$ 3.7 million. Japan has already started the assessment procedure for construction of additional cyclone shelters in affected area. In addition, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is planning to support for rehabilitation of rural infrastructures with Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and water supply facilities with the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) under technical cooperation projects.

Bangladesh Resident Mission of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday awarded three best performing project teams implementing projects in Bangladesh. The 2007 award-winning project teams are the Northwest Crop Diversification Project (NCDP) implemented by the Department of Agriculture Extension and Bangladesh Bank, and the Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement (Sector) Project (UGIIP) and the Rural Infrastructure Improvement Project (RIIP), both implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED).

Pakistan lacks a comprehensive energy efficiency development road map and investment programme and international experience indicates that the effective implementation and incorporation of energy efficiency into the policy mainstream requires concerted, long-term action and commitment, said Asian Development Bank report. In a project update report on 'Preparing the Sustainable Energy Efficiency Development Programme for Pakistan', the ADB emphasised the need for a comprehensive policy and regulatory framework; energy price and utility rate-setting reforms and incentives; a strong equipment standards, certification, and testing regime; complementary alternative and renewable energy programmes; and easy, widespread access to energy efficiency information, financing, products, and services by all categories and levels of energy market players and end users. According to ADB project study, the energy efficiency assessment conducted under ADB's Energy Efficiency Initiative determined that Pakistan has a large and untapped energy efficiency market. It identifies several energy efficiency improvement opportunities in gas distribution (supply side) and in the government and residential sectors (demand side) that can be tapped into. These opportunities may be explored without extensive precursor preparations, detailed policy design, or framework development, achieving immediate energy savings and deferring additional supply requirements. Further refinement and expansion of such options could result in a portfolio of immediate, bankable energy efficiency investment options for Pakistan, which the government and ADB may consider. According to report, the government and domestic consumers consume more than 60 percent of Pakistan's energy. The public sector is the most inefficient consumer, and the government is looking for more efficient utilisation and conservation measures. The government is eager to procure and adopt energy efficient technology in its operations, including the use of efficient lighting and heating and cooling systems in existing and new buildings, and introduction of energy-efficient building codes. The domestic sector currently uses 45 percent of the power supply. The most effective way to expedite the use of efficient compact fluorescent lamps by domestic consumers is to inject a large volume of such lamps into the market at a low price. This approach has been successful in several countries, where it has immediately reduced customers' monthly power bills. Preliminary analysis suggests that the introduction of 15 million high-quality compact fluorescent lamps into Pakistan's domestic market would save customers $78 million over the lifetime of those bulbs (approximately 2 years). This money could be used more productively in the economy. In addition, 880 MW of power demand would be avoided. The cost of such additional new generation capacity would be $1.15 billion (at $1.3 million per MW), ADB report disclosed. ADB report further pointed out that Pakistan's gas distribution system is ageing and is suffering from high technical losses (25-30 percent in some areas compared to industry standard 5 percent) that could be eliminated by replacing medium and low pressure pipes with more efficient, corrosion-free pipes. Natural gas accounted for half (43 billion cubic meters) of Pakistan's primary energy supply in 2006. A more efficient gas distribution system would result in significant national savings (up to $580 million per year) and increased use of cleaner fuel by more domestic, industrial, and commercial consumers, ADB report mentioned. It said that Electricity consumption, projected to grow an average of 8 percent per annum until 2015 (although recent experience suggests much higher demand growth), will similarly require large power generation capacity additions. Higher energy demand and imports will also require massive investments in associated port terminals, storage facilities, refining capacity, pipeline and transmission networks, and surface fuel transport infrastructure. During 2001-2006, ADB report stated that primary energy supply increased 5.4 percent per year. Meanwhile, consumption of electricity rose at an average annual rate of 6.8 percent, natural gas by 10.4 percent, liquefied petroleum gas by 17.6 percent, and coal by 22.8 percent. Electricity use, in particular, is growing robustly across all sectors-industry, agriculture, domestic, and commercial-recording a 10.2 percent overall jump in 2005-2006, while generation increases lagged at 9.3 percent during the same period. Copyright Business Recorder, 2008

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