Land-related issues and lack of concrete information regarding number of
years required for project’s completion cited as major reasons
The Sindh Assembly was informed on Monday that the provincial government had suspended work on the proposed Zulfikarabad city near Thatta largely because of land-related issues.
The assembly was told that the government could not currently predict with any authority as to how many years it would take for the project to be completed.
Health Minister Dr Sikandar Ali Mandhro made the revelations during the legislature’s question hour on the services, general administration & coordination department (SGA&CD). He said that it might take another five to 10 years to complete such a large-scale project.
He admitted that the government was yet to construct the fundamental structure of the road networks as well as basic utilities for Zulfikarabad because of land issues. “Whatever public land was available in the area [earmarked for Zulfikarabad] was being used to develop small-scale residential colonies for on-site officials.”
The minister said the government had planned to develop the province on socio-economic basis, for which it had decided that Zulfikarabad should have its own sea harbour that had nothing to do with the federal government. “Efforts would also be made to revive the Keti Bandar harbour.”
He added that a feasibility report was being prepared for the proposed harbour, as a fishing city would also be developed there because a large number of locals were fisher folk.
Responding to different queries by lawmakers, he said the Zulfikarabad Development Authority (ZDA) had two offices: one in Karachi’s Shireen Jinnah Colony and the other in Thatta. “The monthly rent for the Karachi office is Rs550,000.”
The legislators asked why the government was paying such a large amount for maintaining a single office of a project that had shown no visible progress.
Mandhro clarified that the government had not officially allocated funds for the ZDA in its annual budget, and the project’s requirements were being met through umbrella schemes.
Responding to another query, he said the Provincial Disaster Management Authority would be devolved further to the district level to provide faster relief to the people.
The minister also informed the House that the auditor general’s report for the financial year 2014-15 had identified fiscal irregularities to the tune of Rs1.8 billion in the audit of the SGA&CD’s accounts.
He said 50 per cent of the audit paras had been disposed of while the remaining would also be amicably settled.
He denied the claim of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) lawmaker Muhammad Dilawar Qureshi that the AG’s report had detected financial irregularities to the tune of Rs7 billion.
Firefighting in city
Local Government Minister Jam Khan told the House that the government would purchase a 104-metre snorkel for the fire department of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).
He was responding to Pakistan Muslim League-Functional legislator Nusrat Sehar Abbasi’s calling attention notice on inadequate arrangements for firefighting, especially in the case of high-rises, in the city.
Khan said the government would buy the snorkel even though the opposition had objected to it and moved the court against the proposal, adding that the court would be satisfied before making the purchase.
The minister said the government used to provide only grants to the KMC, which already had three snorkels, adding that the municipal body would be responsible for the new snorkel as well.
He said that if the KMC was unable to carry out its obligations, the LG department was prepared to assume charge of the municipal body’s responsibilities.
Free textbooks
Speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani ruled that MQM-P lawmaker Sabir Hussain Qaimkhani’s adjournment motion against delay in providing free textbooks to students of public schools in the province was out of order.
The motion stated that the students were yet to receive their textbooks despite the fact that Rs1.6 billion had been reserved for the initiative.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said the budget allocation for the proposal had increased to Rs2 billion, adding that the government was prepared to take due rectification measures if a particular public school whose students were yet to get the free textbooks had been identified in the motion.
Meanwhile, the legislature unanimously adopted a resolution to pay homage to Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in connection with his Urs.
The House also unanimously adopted a bill to accord the Institute of Business Administration in Sukkur the status of a university.
