Peshawar's Tartan Track: A Trail of Broken Promises and Ballooning Costs

musarrat ullah jan -

 

Musarrat Ullah Jan – Kikxnow Digital Creator

Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – The vision of a world-class Tartan Running Track for the Peshawar athletes remains nothing more than a vision. What was conceived as a pinnacle of sporting achievement at the Peshawar Sports Directorate has turned into a tale of spiraling costs, mysterious delays, and escalating public discontent. For the third time, this already extravagant project is presented with another budget hike, which evokes outrage and renews apprehensions of unchecked corruption in the sports development of the province.

To begin with, the project's PC-1 (Project Concept-1) was sanctioned for a cost of barely more than Rs. 380 million. This soon grew to Rs. 680 million, the Directorate boldly promising completion by December 2024. However, with the deadline approaching, the track is still incomplete, and the contractor, instead of being penalized for the delay, is now said to be lobbying for yet another dollop of finances. The justification? The amorphous promise of "high quality" construction.

Public spaces and the sporting community are fuming. "This scheme is turning out to be another 'funding graveyard' like the Arbab Niaz Stadium," one resident bemoaned, "where every amendment is undertaken only for the commission." Rumors of kickbacks and illegal profits are rising louder, but no penalties have been levied on the contractor, no investigations initiated, and no questions asked of the engineers in charge of this gargantuan misuse of public money. The Department of Sports, Planning and Development, and the contractor are keeping a deafening silence. Even the Auditor General's report is seen nowhere in public sight.

Ignoring the stark facts, officials of the Sports Directorate present a confusing explanation. "We desire to construct an even improved track now," they say, suggesting a transition from a "sandwich" track to a "pew" track, something they insist will remain for two decades. This abrupt change, however, does much to abate the public's distrust, particularly when fresh payments are being made ready to "please the contractor," a situation eerily mirroring the money pit that became the Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium.

In answer to this dubious management of public funds, players and coaches have joined hands in calling for an independent probe. They demand full transparency, asking the real utilization of funds and the rate of development be made available under the Right to Information (RTI) act. They desire that this project be used as an example, bringing an end to the reported corruption once and for all that has afflicted sports development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

As Peshawar's athletes still dream of a world-class running track, each new "improvement" made by the Directorate only brings more questions to the fore, and the public remains to ask itself: Is this really about sports development, or is it just another installment in a long-standing saga of commissions and broken promises?

 

#TartanTrackScandal  #SportsCorruptionKP  #PeshawarTrackDelay  #WhereIsTheTrack #MegaProjectOrMegaScam  #KhyberPakhtunkhwaSports  #AuditTheTrack  #RTIForSportsFunds  #KikxnowInvestigates

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