Federal govt to spend Rs75 bn on Karachi’s development: Sindh governor

KARACHI: Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair maintained that the federal government will spend a total of Rs75 billion on the development of Karachi. He also said that the recent announcement of Rs25 billion development package for Karachi by the federal government had nothing to do with the decision of Muttahida Quami Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) to support the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as new prime minister.

Addressing a press conference at the Governor House here on Tuesday, the Sindh governor said that he could say with authority that MQM-P had not imposed any pre-condition to vote for the incumbent prime minister.  

It should be mentioned here that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, during his visit of Karachi on August 12, 2017, announced Rs25 billion special development package for Karachi and Rs5 billion package for development works in Hyderabad.

The Sindh governor further said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was supposed to visit Karachi on July 11, 2017 to announce the same development package for the city, but he could not do so due to some unforeseen circumstances.

The governor said: “While addressing a public meeting in Hyderabad in March this year, former PM Nawaz Sharif had announced a development package for Hyderabad and in the same address he had clearly stated that a similar development package would also be announced for Karachi.”

He said that the federal govt had consulted with MQM-P before announcing development package for Karachi because MQM-P had the largest share in political mandate of Karachi. He said that before the announcement of development package for Karachi, the incumbent PM had met different representative delegations in the city to discuss its development prospects. The governor added that the federal government had already kick-started mega-development projects of Rs50 billion in the city.

“This included: Rs25 billion on Green Line Bus Rapid Transit System, Rs12 billion on Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme K-IV and Rs12 billion on Lyari Expressway project in Karachi.  With the recent announcement of Rs25 billion development budget for Karachi, the federal govt is going to spend a total of around Rs75 billion on development of Karachi.”

He said that a project management unit would be established at the Governor House to complete federally funded development projects in the province in a transparent manner. He said that the Governor House would do the monitoring of implementation on new development package for the city.

He said that the development schemes, other than K-IV project, would be initiated for water supply in Karachi under the recently announced development package. The new development package also carries a specific sum of money for the city’s fire brigade service.

He said that under the new package, special focus would be given to improvement and restoration of infrastructure of industrial zones of the city. He said that a state-of-the-art public sector general hospital will be built in Karachi; whereas, the federal govt will also build a medical college and a hospital at the University of Karachi.

The governor said that the representative political party of the city (MQM-P) had been consulted for improving infrastructure in Karachi. He said that the Sindh government was also being contacted for the same cause. 

He said that federal government had started unfolding long-term development programmes for Karachi in a way that would help successive governments to manage the affairs of this city. The governor said: “Under the Hyderabad development package, a public sector university and an airport will be established. A federally funded metro bus service would also be launched in Hyderabad in the next stage.” He said it was a good sign that nobody was able to announce strikes in Karachi after the restoration of law and order situation.

Mohammad Zubair said that the federal government had prepared a development package for Karachi, keeping in view the increasing civic problems. He said that the infrastructure of doing trade and business in the city was being improved to make Karachi more lucrative for prospective foreign investors.  To a question in the end, the governor said that the Governor House was not being used to do political activities in the province.