CM Sindh sees Bilawal becoming PM in 2020

In order to hide its inefficiency and lack of planning, the federal government is holding Sindh responsible for the shortage of gas in the province.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said this on Monday while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of development schemes in Korangi. The inauguration of the development projects was performed by Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The CM said he was surprised to know that a federal minister was holding the provincial government responsible for the shortage of gas in Sindh. He added that his government’s stance was very clear for the implementation of the Article 158 of the constitution. “We want you [Centre] to meet the gas requirement of Sindh first and then distribute the remaining gas wherever it is needed.”

“We won’t allow you to take away gas being produced from Sindh and force us to purchase LNG,” Shah said. He added that he had been very clear from the day one that the provincial government would not purchase LNG for its domestic or industrial consumers. “We would use the gas we are producing and if you [the federal government] need gas you can purchase LNG,” he said.

The CM said Bilawal would become the prime minister of Pakistan in 2020. Shah said the Sindh government had undertaken and completed many mega projects in Karachi such as widening and improvement of various roads, including Sharea Faisal, University Road, Hub River Road, Madinat ul Hikmat Road and the road from Fawara Chowk to Karachi Zoo, beautification of Cantt Railway station, and construction of Drigh Road Underpass and Manzil Pump Flyover.

Addressing the PPP chairman, the CM said they all had gathered in Korangi to inaugurate seven recently completed projects in Karachi, including the improvement plan for roads at Cantt Railway Station, bridges in Korangi No 5 and Korangi No 2 ½ and the Hyder Ali Road Underpass.

Shah maintained that the Sindh government was heavily funding the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and District Municipal Corporations. He added that the Sindh government’s vision was to make Karachi a livable city for which it was working in collaboration with international donor agencies and local partners under the public-private partnership mode.

He said the Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project worth $105 million had also been launched by the Sindh government.

New projects

The CM also announced new projects for Karachi that would be launched in the next few months. He said the government was planning to construct a four-lane dual carriageway from the KPT Flyover up to Kathore M-9, having an approximate length of 38.5 kilometres. Shah said the project would be launched the next month under the public-private partnership mode.

He also announced that work on the proposed Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project would be started within the next two months. The project will connect Model Colony in Malir to Saddar, for which the Asian Development Bank will assist the Sindh government. The CM said the World Bank had been taken on board for the construction of another BRT, the Yellow Line, which will connect Korangi and Numaish.