Officials back plan for Karachi Port-Shahrah-e-Bhutto connector

KARACHI: A key meeting was held on Thursday at the Sindh Investment Department office to discuss a proposed infrastructure project aimed at connecting Karachi Port to Shahrah-e-Bhutto (Malir Expressway) via the Qayyumabad Interchange.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Maritime Affairs Junaid Anwar Chaudhry and Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Sindh on Investment and Public Private Partnership Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar.

Officials highlighted that the distance from the Karachi Port to the Qayyumabad Interchange is approximately 12 kilometres. Qamar noted that the new route would facilitate smoother movement of heavy cargo traffic from the Karachi Port, allowing it to access the M-9 Super Highway without entering the city’s congested roads.

Chaudhry endorsed the project, calling it both important and practical. He assured full cooperation from the federal government to ensure its feasibility.“The implementation of this project will ease the burden of heavy traffic on city roads and improve overall traffic flow,” Qamar added.

During the briefing, officials noted that Sindh’s total public-private partnership (PPP) project portfolio has reached Rs616 billion, with all projects so far declared successful.It was agreed that a joint meeting between the Sindh government and the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) will be arranged soon to move forward with the feasibility of the proposed link.

The meeting also explored the potential for a logistics park to accommodate port-related heavy vehicles and a project to desalinate seawater for industrial use near Port Qasim.Senior officials, including Secretary Investment Sindh Raja Khurram Shahzad and Director General of the PPP Unit Asad Zamin, were also in attendance.