Mayor, WB team discuss city uplift efforts

The World Bank's offer for assistance in resolving Karachi's civic issues is a good omen and we must ensure that the city's critical problems are afforded top priority in this regard.

This was stated by Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar on Friday while chairing a meeting with WB representatives who are in town for meetings with Sindh government and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) officials to work out a plan for initiating development projects in Karachi.

The mayor urged the delegation to give top priority to rehabilitation and construction of roads and bridges, and provision of machinery and equipment for cleaning of storm water drains and for emergency works.

He also directed the KMC officers to provide all possible help and support to the World Bank team in their study of the city projects. He said the elected leadership of Karachi was making all possible efforts to solve the city’s problems.

World Bank representatives maintained that the bank was making 60 to 80 million dollar investment in Karachi and in this connection they were working on the city’s drainage basin, locations and capacity of the city’s main rivers with the help of computerized software and through digital elevation model under the Karachi integrated urban management project 2018. The study focuses on the protection from flood and to prepare a workable plan in this connection, they added.

The mayor assured them of providing all possible cooperation in their projects and said that it was his topmost priority to provide better facilities to the city dwellers.