PPP policy board approves four projects for launch

The 23rd meeting of the Public-Private Policy Board of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah approved four projects of the transport, mass transit, finance and health departments.

The meeting was attended by all board members, including provincial health minister Dr Sikandar Mendhro, Minister for Local Government Jam Khan Shoro, Minister for Information Syed Nasir Shah, MPAs Awais Shah, P&D Chairman Mohammad Waseem, Principal Secretary to CM Sohail Rajput and NED Vice Chancellor Dr Suresh Lodhi, and others.

Blue Line project

The Transport & Mass Transit Department (TMTD) has received an unsolicited proposal on the infrastructure component of the BRT Blue Line from a consortium of EA consulting. The chief minister was told that the proposal had provided a financing option under which private equity would be 16 per cent and that of the Sindh government would be 14 percent, while there would be a 70 per cent loan.

The board approved the project, saying that in case of price escalation the provincial government would bear 50 per cent of the cost. The estimated cost of the project would be more than Rs16 billion.

Intra-City project

The TMTD has received an unsolicited proposal for intra-city buses in Karachi. The proposal is to ply up to 2,000 buses within two years on the nominated routes at desired frequency as per the directions of the department.

The Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA) would pay a fixed kilometre charge to the operator on the basis of achieving guaranteed minimum kilometers per year per bus. The chief minister was told that the project intends to compliment the BRT Lines and the KCR by providing customers with the wider option of travelling to various destinations within Karachi. The PPP board approved the hiring of transaction advisors for feasibility study of the intra-bus service in Karachi and okayed funding for the same from the project development fund (PDF).

Green & Orange Lines

The SMTA in collaboration with the PPP unit launched the Green and Orange Line – Bus Operation service project and invited proposals in which two bidders had participated. They were Daewoo Express Bus Service Ltd and A Consortium of Transport Pvt. After adopting the due procedure, both the bidders were deemed qualified. The PPP board approved the signing of a concessional agreement with the preferred bidder.

RBC-Sukkur and Jamshoro

With the development assistance through KfW-German Development Bank, the construction of four state of the art regional blood centres (RBCs) in Sindh was completed in 2015. The provision of these facilities involved civil construction and supplies of medical and non-medical equipment and office accessories. Under the agreement signed between the health department and KfW, the HD is responsible for operation and maintenance of facilities.

The health department and KfW have agreed with consensus that the RBC may be contracted out to be experienced and established a private sector organisation under PPP mode. In this regard, a summary has been initiated for the PPP policy board. The PPP policy board approved the summary and the proposal.