Peshawar's "Piyo System": A Father of All Delays for the Tartan Track

 

 

Musarrat Ullah Jan . Kikxnow , digital creator

 

The Peshawar Sports Complex football and athletics ground has remained stuck in a project that is neither finished nor properly shelved for years now. The objective was to lay an international-standard tartan track, but five years on, athletes still lack a field, no events have been organized, and nobody has been held accountable.

 

The original PC-1 (Project Concept-1) of the project was prepared for PKR 380 million. But through amendments, false delays, and fresh claims, it went up to PKR 680 million. Yet, nothing was done on ground, and the track was never laid out. During all this time, the project remained in files, jumping between concerned departments and the C&W Department. Astoundingly, a third PC-1 is in the making, with the cost of the project set to increase three to fourfold at least, and possibly exceed PKR 2 billion.

 

Sources indicate the initial intention to lay a "sandwich system" track. Officials are now, however, signifying a change to the "Piyo System"—allegedly a more up-to-date and costly design. Curiously, "Piyo" is the word for "father" in the Hindko language, so cynical observations in local circles are being made that the "father of all tartan tracks" is being introduced.

 

The five-year delay in the project has not only blown up the budget to many folds, but the players are also compelled to leave Peshawar and move to cities such as Kohat to get their trials and training. In a city which is supposed to be a sports hub, even the basic facilities cannot be provided to the athletes. While relevant officials are engaged in preparing "new project" files in their air-conditioned offices, no contractor has been blacklisted and no official suspended.

 

Questions Calling for Answers

Will someone be held accountable for this five-year lag?

Is personal interest behind this public-funded initiative?

Is the Sports Directorate reduced to just being an institution for producing "PC-1s"?

Is raising a project's budget by renaming it the only option for each failing project?

These are the questions lingering in the minds of young athletes, coaches, and sportsmen in Peshawar, but government corridors have remained deafeningly quiet.

While nothing is going on at the sports ground, the "genealogy of projects" is definitely being laid out in government offices. When sportsmen are denied running, and bureaucrats are running after files, it's obvious that the sports development direction has entirely taken a U-turn.

 

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