Centre, Sindh agree to solve Karachi's 6 problems together

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: A meeting of federal and Sindh government representatives on Wednesday agreed on setting up a coordination committee to work on six key areas of infrastructural development in Karachi.

It was decided that from Sindh, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and provincial ministers Nasir Hussain Shah and Saeed Ghani would form a part of the committee. From the federal government, Minister for Planning Asad Umar and Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi will be included, as well as MQM-P member Syed Aminul Haq, who is the minister for information technology.

Speaking about the meeting in a press conference in Islamabad, Asad Umar said the committee would work on six areas: water, sewerage system, solid waste disposal, clearing nullahs and removing encroachments, repairing roads, and introducing a modern transportation system.

All of these problems had a solution, he said, or at least a pending project that could provide relief to the people — such as the K-IV Water Project and Karachi Circular Railways (KCR). The federal minister stressed that there was a need to form a consensus and work together to build Karachi’s infrastructure and bring to completion the projects that had been pending for decades.

With regard to the committee, he said that no head or convener had been appointed yet as matters could only move forward once there was a consensus between the Centre and the Sindh government. "Secretary Sindh PND [Planning and Development Department] has been made the secretary of the committee," he stated.

To expedite the process, Asad Umar said a list of projects would be finalised in two weeks to be divided between the Centre and Sindh to take charge. "A list will be made and the projects will be divided between the federal government and Sindh. The legal aspect and the source of financing the projects will also be worked out in the timeframe," he said.

The minister acknowledged that the federal government and its counterpart in Sindh "deeply disagree" on many issues but said he believed that political differences should not be a hindrance in the way of development.

Asad Umar also claimed that the venture would not affect the government's "accountability" moto. "We will not compromise on accountability," he stressed. Earlier today, Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah and Asad Umar had held a meeting here in the federal capital, with provincial ministers Nasir Shah and Saeed Ghani, Haider, and Aminul Haq in attendance, according to the chief minister's spokesperson. Another meeting followed, wherein National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairperson Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal also participated.

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