Mega projects become shields. When lives are lost to open manholes, reckless dumpers, collapsing buildings or institutional neglect — and tragedies like Gul Plaza — no list of mega projects can compensate. That machinery can only exist through empowered local governments. Local governments are not a threat to provincial authority; they are the arms and feet of the body politic. The PPP cannot dispel accusations of incompetence or hubris through mega projects alone.