Supreme Court directs SBP to 'remove obstacles' so overseas Pakistanis can contribute to dam fund.

ISLAMABAD -- The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to "remove obstacles" that are hindering the transfer of donations by overseas Pakistanis for the dam fund and submit a report on the matter.

"Overseas Pakistanis want to contribute to the dam fund but banks are not collecting [donations]," said Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who was part of the five-member bench hearing a case pertaining to the Diamer-Bhasha Dam. He added that SBP should look into the complaints.

"All Pakistanis should be able to donate towards the dam fund," the court stated.

Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who was heading the bench, remarked that there were reports of a "huge amount" of money which was contributed to the dam fund that had not been transferred to Pakistan.

"Remove the obstacles and bring back the money," he told the SBP lawyer.

"All Pakistani banks should resolve issues in the transfer of funds," said Justice Ahmed.

Justice Ahsan observed that there were reports that private banks were not collecting donations for the dam fund, despite the fact that it was a direct order from the Supreme Court.

During the proceedings, the National Bank of Pakistan submitted a record of investments made by the bank using donations from the dam fund which totalled Rs12 billion. The bank's representative informed the court that the profit from the investments is expected to come by February 2020.

The bench told SBP to submit a report on Supreme Court's directions in the next hearing that has been adjourned until four weeks.

Former chief justice Saqib Nisar had urged Pakistanis to contribute to the dam fund so that the Diamer-Bhasha dam could be built to counter the country's water crisis.

In the same case, the Supreme Court also reviewed a report of progress submitted by an implementation committee which was formed on the top court's orders.

The bench noted that two tribes had raised a dispute over land, which was bought from them by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and was then handed over to the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) to work on the dam project.

The counsel for the...