Governance Woes.

The cost of the much-touted Model Prison in Islamabad's H-16 sector has escalated by an astounding 365 percent compared to the original cost that was approved in 2016. Further, the construction of the already delayed project has been pushed forward by another two years. This is quite concerning but also very characteristic of our inefficient approach toward governance and development.

Back in 2016, the original cost of the project was estimated at Rs 3,920.523 million while the revised capital cost has been put at Rs18,279.498 million. The project was envisioned to have a capacity of 4,000 inmates with separate barracks for males, females, and juveniles, in addition to residential facilities for the jail staff along with educational and prayer buildings.

This is of course a very ambitious project, but the now revised cost is in no way commensurate. According to reports, there have been numerous issues in terms of the implementation-a seemingly perpetual issue-and could not be completed on time despite extensions. In addition to this, work was also...