Rs26.8bn uplift projects for Karachi in ADP: Murad Ali Shah

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Saturday that the Annual Development Programme (ADP) of his government comprised development projects for Karachi having the total value of Rs26.8 billion.

Shah was addressing the budget session of the provincial assembly. The PA also passed the Sindh government’s budget for the new financial year 2020-21 and the supplementary budget for the outgoing fiscal year 2019-20 with majority votes.

The chief executive said on the occasion that besides the ADP, there were foreign-funded projects for the city that the provincial government had to pay back to the donor agencies.

He said the projects worth Rs202 billion included the Red Line, the Yellow Line, the Karachi Urban Mobility Project, the Water & Sewerage Improvement Plan, the Karachi Neighbourhood Improvement Project, the Compatible Liveable City of Karachi, and the Solid Waste Emergency & Efficiency Project.

He added that in the District ADP for Karachi, Rs2.4 billion had been allocated for the completion of the development projects that were already under way.

The CM said that apart from the ADP and the foreign-funded projects, there were a number of other projects to be started in 2020-21. He said the Malir Expressway would be started in the new financial year at a cost of Rs27.5 billion.

He hoped that Rs10 billion would be spent during 2020-21. He also said that there was a project worth Rs6.5 billion for the reconstruction of a link road, on which over Rs2 billion would be spent during the new fiscal year.

Shah said that there was also the Karachi Urban Road project, under which three projects — the Korangi Causeway, the ICI Junction Interchange and the Hawks Bay Y-junction — would be built. These three projects would cost around Rs12 billion and hopefully over Rs4 billion would be utilised in 2020-21, he added.

He said that there was a Rs25 billion municipal wastewater recycling project of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board, for which Rs5 billion would be utilised in the next financial year, while the Hub Canal rehabilitation project worth Rs7 billion would utilise Rs1 billion in 2020-21.

He added that there was an S-III project for which the federal government had refused to share the costs, so it would be launched with public-private partnership.

The CM said that apart from them, there were five combined effluent treatment plants that would be started in the next fiscal year. He also said that a total of Rs80 billion was allocated for those projects, against which Rs20 billion would be utilised in 2020-21. Vehicles

Shah pointed out that since his government had banned the purchase of vehicles during the COVID-19 emergency, any operational vehicle that needed to be purchased would need the approval of his cabinet.

Comparing the Sindh government’s expenditures on the purchase of vehicles with other provincial administrations as well as the federal government in the last four years, he said that Sindh had made purchases worth Rs7.2 billion, Punjab Rs16.15 billion, Balochistan Rs7.8 billion, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rs5.2 billion and the Centre Rs23.01 billion.

“Despite these numbers, the Sindh government has been under criticism,” he expressed surprise. Talking about year-wise expenditures, he said that in 2018-19 Sindh purchased vehicles worth Rs330.5 million, Punjab Rs1.45 billion, Balochistan Rs1.88 billion, KP Rs1.36 billion and the Centre Rs5.5 billion.

He added that in 2019-20 Sindh spent Rs438.5 million on the purchase of vehicles, Punjab Rs3.42 billion, Balochistan Rs2.53 billion, KP 2.09 billion and the Centre 4.52 billion.

As a matter of fact, he pointed out, in 2019-20 Sindh had an estimated Rs3.63 billion budget for the purchase of vehicles, Punjab Rs1.7 billion, Balochistan Rs4.8 billion and KP Rs192.4 million.

The CM said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s government had filed inaccurate figures in the Supreme Court, so he would submit a detailed list of expenditures of his government and that of the other provincial governments as well as the Centre that were incurred on the purchase of vehicles.

He added that the Sindh government had imposed a ban on the purchase of new vehicles, for which a notification had been issued on June 24.

Mocking the opposition in the PA, Shah said he was thankful to the opposition for reposing their confidence in the budget 2020-21 because they did not submit a single cut motion.

He added that instead of participating in the budgetary process, they preferred to remind everyone of the days of their sit-in on containers, indulge in hooliganism and disturb the decorum of the House.