KARACHI, May 30: President Asif Ali Zardari was informed on Wednesday that the work on a Rs3.7 billion project — the Dhandhari bridge — on the Indus to connect the new Zulfikarabad city with Gharo in Thatta district would begin next month.

Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar told newsmen that the president chaired a special meeting here at the Bilawal House to review the progress on the Zulfikarabad city project.

He said that the president was told that the six-kilometer-long Rs3.7 billion Dhandhari bridge and Garho-Shah Bunder Expressway projects were ready for launch.

Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Sindh Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah, Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas, Managing Director of Zulfikarabad Development Authority retired Lt-Gen Iftikhar Hussain Shah, Salman Faruqui, Farhatullah Babar and other senior officials were also present in the meeting.

The president was informed that the Dhandhari bridge on the Indus would connect the new city with Garho in Thatta district and work on it would begin on June 15. Also a route survey for the 44-kilometre-long Zulfikarabad Expressway connecting Garho to the bridge and then onto Shah Bunder had been completed and bid documents were being finalised.

Mr Babar said that the meeting was called ahead of the president’s visit to China next week. “The Chinese have agreed to help build the new city by building a special economic zone in Zulfikarabad as the hub of the new city,” he said.

The president directed that the status of development works being undertaken in the Zulfiqarabad should be made available on the internet
so that local as well as foreign investors were able to monitor the project and make appropriate investment decisions.

He said that there was a lot to be learnt from China, which had built a modern city Shenzhen in a short span of time.

He said that the proposed city could be turned into an economic hub of the province keeping in view its proximity to Karachi.

About the infrastructure projects in the city, the meeting was informed that several firms from China, Turkey, and Czech Republic had shown keen interest in wind power projects in the city and that an expression of interest for developing a 250 MW wind power project on a joint venture basis had already been invited.

The meeting was informed that the Zulfiqarabad city project received positive response from foreign investors at the annual investment conference 2012 held in Dubai.

While appreciating the decision of the Sindh government to showcase the project at an international forum, the president remarked that the project needed to be further promoted through road shows to attract the interest of national and international investors.

The meeting also deliberated upon various issues being faced by the authority.

The president directed the Sindh CM to convene a meeting of the departments concerned and stakeholders to sort out the issues.