Sindh govt to launch Rs12 bn development schemes for Karachi

KARACHI : Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that he was going to undertake development schemes in Karachi worth Rs12 billion which would be completed within six months.

Murad  said that he was working hard to initiate the Karachi Circular Railway project as well. He said work on the CPEC related schemes of the province would start from Dec 25, the birth anniversary  of Father of Nation Quaid-e-Azam.  

Addressing a reception he hosted for industrialists at the CM House on Friday, he said some  people are still praising the devolution system while forgetting what the system had done to Karachi and other cities. He said the devolution system of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf played havoc with the established government system. 

Murad said the city governments  allowed conversion of amenity plots into residential and commercial," he said, due to which encroachments have appeared everywhere  now and even major drains have turned into residential colonies.

He lamented that an established and functional government system was radically changed instead of reforming it. Despite passage of over a decade we are still working to rectify the damages of the devolution system.  

Talking about investment opportunities in Sindh, he said he was establishing one-window system to facilitate the investors. "I believe the industrialists are partners of the government, this is why we have developed public private partnership concept which is working successfully," he said.

The CM said "we have to work hard to stabilise the provincial economy, as well as work to improve education and health services in the province." The CM said rural areas are facing water shortages which is hurting agri-economy. He said "the  government is  lining the canals to reduce water losses so as to bring more land under cultivation."