Sindh govt, WB mull over partnership for another $10bn projects

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and 11-member World Bank high-level delegation led by its Country Director Patchamuthu Illangovan on Tuesday discussed over $10 billion projects.

The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, Saeed Ghani, Ismail Rahu, Syed Sardar Shah, Imtiaz Shaikh, Advisor to CM on Law Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah and the relevant provincial secretaries.

Murad Ali Shah said he was working for reforming governance, economic growth, sustainable development and human capital development.

“I am committed to achieve these goals through accountability to the core of government, encouragement of economic growth, liberalization and modernization of agriculture sector and strengthen population management and early childhood development,” he said.

Karachi Neighbourhood Improvement project is a $86 project and the provincial government has to put in $14 million to start the project.

The three other projects, Karachi Urban Management, a $200 m project, Karachi Urban Mobility, a $400 million project, and Karachi Water and Sewerage, a $640 million project, also came under discussion. These three projects needed some provincial government approvals and finalisation of investment plan to start the project.

KUM project : The World Bank has proposed $200 million for Karachi Urban Management project . The chief minister said that the objective of the project was to enhance urban management service delivery of KMC and DMCs.

The proposal was to provide performance-linked block grants to six district municipal corporations (DMCs) and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) for local level infrastructure and municipal services. A capital development grant was proposed for KMC for flood management and rehabilitation of urban drainage infrastructure.

Read More: CM Sindh orders completion of ongoing water projects

The institutional development and capacity building of KMC and DMCs was also discussed. On this the chief minister said that he had already announced to hand over recovery of property tax to the KMC and DMCs.

The chief minister directed Chairman P&D Mohammad Waseem to call a joint meeting of local bodies and secretary local government to finalise the KUM project so that necessary recommendation could be firmed up for final approval.

The meeting also decided to conduct fresh property survey in the city of Karachi ad then in the other districts.

KUM project: The WB proposed $400 million for Karachi Urban Mobility (KUM). The project is aimed at improving urban mobility, accessibility and road safety in Karachi. Under the project the World Bank would construct Yellow Line corridor, including development of infrastructure rehabilitation and BRTs construction system.

Chairman P&D Mohammad Waseem said that under the project road safety would be increased via infrastructure, crash data system and improving enforcement and awareness. Capacity building of Sindh Mass Transit Authority staff and KMC would also be made and study for other corridors would be conducted.

The chief minister approved the project and directed the chairman P&D and the secretary transport to move forward with the project by completing all the required formalities and also send the concept paper to Economic Affairs Division.

KSSI Project: The World Bank has proposed $1.6 billion. Murad Ali Shah talking about the project said that it was aimed at supporting Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB) to deliver safe and reliable water and sewerage services and encouraging private sector investments water supply and waste water treatment.

Under the project there would be institutional reforms in the KW&SB which include reforms in customer service, HR, operational capacity, billing and collection etc. Through the project 10 katchi abadis (slum areas) would also be provided water. The chief minister directed P&D, local government to go ahead with the proposal.

SHC programme: This programme is aimed at improving delivery and utilization of health, nutrition, population, education and social protection services to support women and girls to invest in human capital in targeted areas. The World Bank has proposed $400 million for the programme. Under the programme skill and employment training, secondary and second chance education, early childhood development interventions would also be made. The chief minister directed chairman P&D to hold separate meeting with the concerned departments and make final recommendations.

SW&T and CR: The goal of Sindh Water & Agriculture Transformation and Climate Resilience project has transformed water management and agriculture production towards higher levels of water productivity and improve climate resilience. The WB has proposed $300 million and the provincial government’s share would be $150 million.

The Sindh CM said that under project rehabilitation of canal system on the right of Dadu and Rice Canal and on the left bank of Akram Wah, Ghotki Feeder and Fulleli system would be made. He also added that under the project advanced irrigation reforms have been proposed and masterplans for monitoring system of right bank barrages would also be evolved.

The chief minister directed P&D and Irrigation department to finalise the draft irrigation management strategy so that the project could be taken up.

TRFS: The World Bank has proposed Rs150 million for Transformation and Revitalisation of the Fisheries Sectors (TRFS). The chief minister said that the goal of the project was to transform and revitalize fisheries and aquaculture by improving management, competitiveness and community.

The project would introduce sustainable management systems, including spatial planning, vessel registration and licensing and data management. The chief minister said that under the project private sector participation would be incentivized and would build value chains. He added that the project also aimed at improving nutritional food security and livelihoods for women and families and strengthening institutions.

SJ&C Project: The World Bank has proposed $400 million for Sindh Jobs and Competitiveness (SJ&C) project. The chief minister said that this project was aimed at improving business environment and economic competitiveness to generate new investment and employment opportunities.

Under this project investment climate and doing business indicators would be developed.

The chief minister and the World Bank country chief and his team discussed each and every project at length and finally decided to take them up at Planning & development Department level to complete their formalities so that they could be cleared from the local forms and for final approval of World Bank.

The World Bank Pakistan chief Patchamuthu Illangovan told the meeting that his bank was ready to further enhance and strengthen their partnership with the provincial government.