PM Shehbaz Sharif pledges all help for Sindh projects completion

KARACHI: The newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday assured Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah that the federal government would always stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the provincial government for completion of its development projects.

He was in Karachi on a daylong visit and left for Islamabad after paying his respects at the Quaid-e-Azam mausoleum, and holding meetings with the Sindh CM and MQMP leaders.

The PM announced to include the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and issued directives for early completion of K-IV bulk water project, construction of all roads of industrial areas of the city and financially supporting the provincial government in the procurement of buses for the BRT project.

“We all have to work hard for the development of all the four provinces to steer the nation out of poverty and unemployment,” he said while presiding over a meeting of the provincial cabinet to discuss and decide the PSDP (Public Sector Development Programme)-related development projects and outstanding issues between the provincial and federal governments.

The meeting was attended by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, along with his cabinet members besides Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Khwaja Izhar and Kanwar Naveed of the MQM, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Merriyum Aurangzeb and Miftah Ismail of the PMLN, Akram Durrani, Maulana Asad Mahmood of the JUIF, chairmen of Wapda and NDMA, and a number of federal secretaries.

The Sindh CM welcomed the prime minister and recalled that in 2015, the-then prime minister Nawaz Sharif had chaired a meeting at the CM House. “This meeting of yours, with the participation of all partners, would prove to be beneficial for the people of Pakistan, particularly of Sindh,” he added.

The CM, chairman P&D Sindh and provincial ministers briefed the PM about different projects and issues. The PM was told that in 2016, the Karachi Circular Railway project was included by 6th Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) for its inclusion in CPEC projects. The KCR project was approved by ECNEC at a cost of Rs207.546 billion in 2017, under CPEC funding. Now the project had been revised by ECNEC in 2022 for Rs181 billion to be taken up under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. The PM said under the PPP mode, the project would be delayed and announced, including it in CPEC projects.

The PM was told that the augmentation works of K-IV would cost Rs52.34 billion. The augmentation works include connectivity of the outlet of reservoirs being developed under the Greater Bulk Water Supply Scheme (phase-I 260 MIGD) to the main KWSB system in the city.

Under other works, Pipri system of 65 MIGD is being developed to improve water supply in District Malir, Korangi and cantonment areas. Water supply in District South, Central and some areas of District West is also being improved at 130 MIGD. The Hub System (65 MIGD) is also being upgraded to improve water supply in District West, North Karachi, Surjani, North Nazimabad & SITE areas.

The CM requested the prime minister to finance Rs10 billion for K-IV augmentation works because the funds committed by donor agencies would flow in January 2023. The PM said his government would support the Sindh government to complete the augmentation works well in time.

The prime minister was told that Phase-I of the 260 MGD K-IV bulk water supply project for Karachi, costing Rs.126.4 billion had been approved and being executed by Wapda with the federal government funding. The CM requested the PM to make all required funds for K-IV available, so that it could be completed in time. The PM directed the Wapda chairman to start work on a war-footing to provide water to the city.

The PM was told that KTP was announced in 2020 with an outlay of Rs1.17 billion for various projects in the areas of water supply, sewerage treatment management, internal roads and Mass Transit in Karachi. The share of the provincial government was Rs686 billion whereas the federal PSDP share was Rs487 billion, the CM said. The CM requested the prime minister to issue necessary directives for the issuance of sovereign guarantee/ VGF (Viability Gap Fund) for mega PPP (public-private partnership) projects and allocate Rs10 billion per year to finance provincial governments' annual obligation of Rs32 billion. The PM assured the chief minister that the federal government would support the Sindh government.

The PM was told that Sindh Infrastructure Development Co. Limited (SIDCL) was a public sector development company, established under the Companies Act for execution of schemes by the federal government in Karachi. Under the company, 10 schemes of Rs47.913 billion with an allocation of Rs10.297 billion in PSDP 2021-2022 were in progress.

The CM requested the PM to abolish the SIDCL and all its assets and schemes might be transferred to the Sindh government for execution. The PM asked the CM to send him a proposal so that necessary action could be taken.

The CM told the prime minister that the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway project was approved by ECNEC in 2022 at a cost of Rs165.7 billion under the PPP mode. He added that the project envisaged the construction of a 306-km-long, six-lane wide, access-controlled fenced motorway. The PM said that he would include the project in CPEC.

CM Murad Ali Shah said that the Jamshoro-Sehwan Road project was approved in 2017 for Rs14 billion. The Sindh government provided Rs7 billion in 2017 as its 50 per cent share, but the work had not been completed. At this, the prime minister directed the NHA to complete the project at the earliest.

The meeting was told that after devolution, in July 2011, three main hospitals in Karachi -- Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Karachi, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases Karachi and National Institute of Child Health Karachi were transferred to the Sindh government.

In 2011, some JPMC employees belonging to other provinces went to Sindh High Court on the plea that they wanted to go back to the federation. In 2016, the Sindh High Court gave its decision against devolution. The Sindh government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the high court judgment. In February 2019, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the high court and decided that the hospitals should be transferred to the federal government with the directions to reimburse all the expenses the Sindh government had incurred on these institutes since 2011, which come to Rs 110 billion.

The Sindh government filed a review appeal in the Supreme Court in 2019, which is still pending. The PM decided that the federal and provincial governments' ministers should sit together to hand over the control of the hospitals to the Sindh government. He agreed that the provincial government was running these hospitals properly.

The PM was told that since the inception of Pakistan, admission to medical and dental universities and colleges was the prerogative of the respective province. On Sept 22, 2020 replacing the PMDC Ordinance 1962, the National Assembly of Pakistan passed the Pakistan Medical Commission Act 2020 with the objective to regulate medical profession, medical education and recognising medical and dental qualifications all over Pakistan.

Through the new legislation, the Pakistan Medical Commission has withheld the provinces from conducting a centralised provincial/regional medical and dental college admission test and given the power to the National Medical Authority, which should conduct the annual test, as per the standards approved by the National Medical and Dental Academic Board, a centralized single admissions test (MDCAT) throughout Pakistan on a virtual platform.

The CM said that the PMC Act 2020 did not appreciate the fact that all the provinces have their own academic syllabus/ curriculum and that MDCAT could not be made a centralised/ single admissions test. “Approach of this nature violates the fundamental rights of the students who tend to seek admissions to different medical universities on merit,” he said.

The PM asked the chief minister to send him a proposal and request in writing so that action could be taken accordingly.

Earlier, the prime minister landed at the Faisal Base where the CM along with his cabinet members received him. The CM drove the prime minister in his vehicle to Mazar-e-Quaid where the PM offered Fateha at the mausoleum of the Father of the Nation and recorded his impressions in the visitors book.

The chief minister again drove the prime minister to the CM House where they held a one-on-one meeting to discuss the issues of mutual interest.

Later on, talking to the media at CM House, the PM said that initially, the Chinese government had hinted at including the KCR in CPEC, but later the circumstances changed and he would take up the matter again. He said that he had received a comprehensive briefing from the Sindh CM on the development projects being executed in the province.

Shehbaz said he had assured the CM that the Centre would provide the fullest support to the provincial government in this regard as the Centre stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Sindh for this cause. The PM said he had ordered for completion of the K-IV bulk water supply project by 2024. He said that the availability of potable water for the residents of Karachi was a major challenge.

He said the plan had been made to complete the first phase of the K-IV bulk water scheme by 2024 and he had asked the authorities to fully complete the project by the same year (2024). He said that water was a fundamental human need and resolution of this basic problem would be a great service for the Karachiites.

He said that the launching of large air-conditioned buses in large numbers would go a long way to facilitate the Karachiites. Highlighting the Orange Line and Green Line projects, Shehbaz said he had asked Shah to bring air-conditioned buses to Karachi. “I have suggested Shah bring thousands of air-conditioned buses in a transparent manner while pre-qualifying transporters followed by a bidding,” he said, adding that transporters would then be allowed to take loans from banks at minimal interest rate.

He said the residents of Karachi would get the best commuting facilities if in case thousands of AC buses were brought into the city under a transparent mechanism. He suggested that the Sindh and federal governments should combine their resources to pay the mark-up on these loans to be obtained by the selected transporters.

Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz Sharif announced the establishment of a new university in Karachi. He made the announcement during his visit to the headquarters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP) in Bahadurabad. The MQM leadership felicitated the PM on his election. They promised to work closely with the federal government for welfare of the residents, development and progress of the province, particularly of Karachi, the PM's Office Media Wing said in a press release.

Siddiqui told journalists that the matters related to the ministries came under discussion in detail during the meeting of the leaders at the CM House.