KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday urged the Sindh government to reconsider the project conceived by Islamabad to build a modern city on the Bundle Island off Karachi’s coast.
The PM called for renewed coordination between the federal and provincial governments for successful accomplishment of mega projects. These views were expressed by Prime Minister Imran Khan while addressing a ceremony to perform ground-breaking of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project at the Karachi’s Cantonment Railway Station.
“Despite political differences, we will have to move along for the sake of country and Sindh. All this is inter- connected. There are things the federal government couldn’t do alone while others the Sindh government couldn’t do solely without Centre’s support,” the PM said. He said the KCR project after completion would shift the burden from Karachi’s roads.
Federal ministers Asad Umar, Azam Swati, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain and Ali Haider Zaidi, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah attended the ceremony besides senior officers. The prime minister said major cities were engine of growth for any country like London had been for the UK, New York for the US and Karachi for Pakistan. He said Karachi was about to take off in '80s when it was hit by violence, impacting the whole country. He said in September last, both the federal and Sindh governments announced the Karachi Transformation Plan for uplift of the city. Imran believed that Karachi could attract investment from across the world but the provision of basic infrastructure was a pre-requisite like public transport where no due investment was made.
Imran Khan said the issue of water supply to Karachi would be resolved within two years once the K-4 project was completed. The PM asked the Sindh government to reconsider the Bundle Island project as Sindh would be the sole beneficiary of its profits and jobs. The project would also help reduce the burden on Karachi, he added.
He said it would be difficult to provide utilities to the residents of Karachi if the city continued to spread at the same pace. Moreover, the cities would become unsustainable if future planning was not done timely.
He said the Ravi City was also being developed to protect Lahore. The PM stated that both Bundle Island and Ravi City projects would attract foreign investment, particularly from the overseas Pakistanis. He said the foreign investment would also help stabilise local currency unless the country’s exports did not touch the desired level. He also said the work on Karachi’s three drains was moving at a fast pace to avert recurrence of urban flooding situation in the city and also lauded the FWO for the project’s swift execution.
Imran told the gathering that the mega projects could not be completed without political will. He said these projects get stuck up in ministries unless they get full backing of the government. Any unnecessary delay also makes them financially unfeasible, he added. He said both the federal and Sindh governments would have to pay full attention to the KCR project to save its cost. He reiterated that the federal government had resolved to execute the project and hoped the provincial government would also extend cooperation.
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