Bureaucrats, army officer to oversee PM’s Rs1.1tr Karachi uplift plan

KARACHI: An eight-member committee comprising representatives of the federal and Sindh governments as well as an official of the Pakistan army has been finalised to plan, supervise and ensure implementation of the massive Rs1.1 trillion Karachi package announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan, it emerged on Sunday.

The provincial coordination and implementation committee (PCIC) would be headed by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah as per announcement made by the PM during his recent visit to the metropolis.

The official said that the members of the committee had been finalised with the consent from both the federal and provincial governments and a notification in this regard was “expected very soon”.

“The chief minister will head the body as decided in the meeting chaired by the PM when he visited Karachi,” he said. “The federal planning secretary will represent the federal government. Other members of the committee will include a brigadier of the V Corps [of the army], a senior officer of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), chairman of the Sindh planning and development board, Sindh local government secretary, Karachi commissioner and the administrator of the metropolis.”

Murad will head the provincial coordination and implementation committee

He said that the committee could make anyone part of the PCIC if it considered necessary.

On Sept 5, the PM had announced the ambitious Rs1.1tr package for the development of the country’s financial capital and set up the PCIC to bring all “stakeholders and authorities” together to make key decisions, remove hurdles and ensure their implementation.

The announcement of the package by the PM triggered a debate from both the centre and the province with ministers from both the sides claiming they were contributing a major share.

However, Federal Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Minister Asad Umar while trying to end the ongoing blame game had recently stressed the need for moving forward and starting work on the plan.

Then came the thought from President Dr Arif Alvi who “requested” the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led federal government and Pakistan Peoples Party’s government in Sindh to “maintain the cooperative atmosphere” for at least next three years, which would see the spending of the funds for development in Karachi.

The finalisation of the members of the key committee is seen as a step in the same direction.

The PM’s package titled Karachi Transformation Plan is consisted of Rs92 billion water supply projects, Rs267bn solid waste management, storm-water drains clearance and resettlement projects, Rs141bn sewage treatment plan, Rs41bn road projects and Rs572bn mass transit, rail and road transport projects.

“Once the committee is notified, the CM will call its first meeting,” said the official. “The members of the committee are core part of its formation, though officials and experts can be called at any meeting for their advice, suggestion or presentation on different projects.”

He said over a trillion rupees fund for Karachi development would also be spent on some ongoing projects and new schemes were also planned to be announced soon which included short- and medium-term deadlines but emphasised that none of the schemes would take more than three years to complete.

“There are a few priority projects including cleaning of drains, solid waste and sewerage management, water supply to all city districts and transport facilities,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2020