KARACHI, Aug 22: President Gen Pervez Musharraf, who is expected here on Saturday on a three-day visit of the province, will hold wide- ranging meetings with the major stake-holders in the city, in connection with civic administration and maintenance of law and order, besides meeting pro-government political leaders for soliciting support for the controversial greater Thal canal and Kalabagh dam projects, well-placed sources said.

He is expected to preside over a high-level meeting, in which, besides review of the ongoing mega projects, the issue of sharing the cost of maintenance of the city infrastructure, by various public and private concerns, would also be taken up, it is reliably learnt.

The visit has assumed great significance following his categorical statements on Kalabagh dam and GTC and the situation arising out of unending cloak and dagger fight between the city government and some departments of the provincial government.

Main opposition party, Peoples Party Parliamentarians, Sindhi nationalists and even the ruling coalition member Muttahida Qaumi Movement have opposed these projects. The Sindh assembly has twice adopted unanimous resolutions against the controversial projects, which the people of Sindh consider detrimental to their interests.

According to the sources, the president had taken serious notice of the recent killings in the city and closure forced by the activists of the MQM, which was the major stake holder in the provincial government.

Gen Musharraf is understood to have already written to the Sindh governor in this regard, said the sources, adding that provincial governor presided over a meeting, in this connection, soon after his return from abroad on Friday evening.

The informed sources said that during president’s last visit to Karachi, the City Nazim Naimatullah Khan had drawn his attention towards different stake holders, who, despite using the facilities and causing immense harm to the infrastructure of the city, did not share related financial responsibilities.

In this connection, the city Nazim had referred to the Karachi Port Trust, Pakistan Steel, Port Qasim, Civil Aviation Authority and host of semi-autonomous private concerns like Pakistan State Oil, Shell Oil Refineries etc, and had requested the president either to allow the city government to collect port users cess or make it binding for the institutions to share the building and maintenance costs of city infrastructure.

The president, reportedly, had agreed to the arguments advanced in this connection, and had told the Nazim that he would again be visiting the city on Aug 23.

It is also learnt that a meeting of the federal finance secretary, economic division secretary and the principal secretary of the president, was also planned to workout feasibility of the city Nazim’s proposal.

Earlier, when this proposal was advanced in 2002, it had been rejected by the then non-elected federal cabinet. However, this time Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali was approached in this regard, who, reportedly, referred the matter to the federal minister of Finance, Shaukat Aziz.

Sindh Chief Minister Sardar Ali Mohammad Mahar, when asked, by reporters on Thursday, about any possibility of taking up the matter with the federal government, said city Nazim was in contact with the federal government, and was in a better position to say something in this regard.

When the Nazim was asked about the fate of the proposal to bail out Karachi city government of present financial crunch, he said that he would again request the prime minister for the purpose.