World Bank-assisted project not for privatising KWSB, says LG minister

The Sindh government is seeking assistance from the World Bank to only improve the functioning of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB), and this should not be misconstrued as a step towards the privatisation of the water board.

Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said this in a statement issued on Sunday to clarify the provincial government’s position on the recently approved $1.6 billion World Bank-assisted Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project in response to an allegation levelled by Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal in a recent new conference, who had said the Sindh government had been planning to privatise the KWSB.

The PSP chief had alleged that the foreign fiscal assistance was being sought to privatise the KWSB against the public interests and it would prove disastrous for the people of Karachi similar to the misery they have been facing after the privatisation of K-Electric.

In the statement, the local government minister, who also happens to be the KWSB chairman, said the World Bank’s assistance had been sought to make the water board a functional and effective public utility of the city.

The provincial minister clarified that the project did not mean that the water board was to be privatised and nor it meant to retrench the employees of the KWSB. He said the project had been conceived to ensure the provision of potable water to every household in the city and upgrade of its sewerage system.

The Pakistan Peoples Party has always secured the interests of labourers, the local government minister maintained.

He said the KWSB would emerge as a revamped and autonomous public utility as a result of the World Bank-assisted project. He added that the citizens of Karachi would become the ultimate beneficiaries of the project as after it was completed, they would no more face the issue of filthy water supplied to their households.

Shah also directed officials and employees of the KWSB to provide full support to the team working to implement the World Bank-funded project and asked them not to pay heed to any unverified news reports and rumours regarding the development scheme.

Eid Milad-un-Nabi

Shah also chaired a meeting on Sunday in which it was decided to empower the deputy commissioners (DCs) in every district to act as a bridge between Ulema and all the relevant civic, municipal, and government agencies to ensure best civic conditions for programmes and and processions of Eid Milad-un-Nabi that will be observed in November.

He said the DCs would make street lights functional in areas where programmes would be held to mark Eid Milad-un-Nabi. The DCs would also ensure proper sanitation and other civic services for such events.

The local government minister said K-Electric would be asked not to carry out load-shedding at the mosques and other areas where event would be held in connection with Eid Milad-un-Nabi.

He said all the relevant institutions, including the district municipal corporations, cantonment boards, KWSB and Sindh Solid Waste Management Board, would collectively work to ensure cleanliness and provision of best of civic and municipal services on the occasion of Eid Milad-un-Nabi. He said foolproof security would also be provided to the participants of all such congregations and processions.