• Shehbaz chairs meeting of Sindh cabinet
• Assures CM of resolving all pending fiscal, uplift issues
• NHA told to expedite construction of Jamshoro-Sehwan Road

KARACHI: Announcing 150 buses for the metropolis, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the federal authorities to remove all bottlenecks in the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) and assured the Sindh government to resolve all of its financial and development related issues pending with the federal governments.

The prime minister, who arrived in the provincial metropolis on his first visit after taking the oath of the country’s chief executive, chaired a meeting of the Sindh cabinet along with Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah at the CM House.

The PM was accompanied by Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Finance Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb, Science and Technology Minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and others.

During the meeting, the prime minister instructed the planning and finance ministers and communication secretary to hold meetings with the chief minister or his team to resolve all the pending issues on priority.

He stated that he was holding this meeting to resolve all the lingering issues, so that development projects could move forward and financial issues could be resolved.

To show his commitment, he announced that the provincial government would receive 150 buses to add to its fleet.

CM Shah gave a detailed presentation to the prime minister and apprised him of the issues being faced by the provincial government.

PM calls for removing KCR bottlenecks

About the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) project, the CM told the prime minister that on the advice of the federal government, a revised feasibility was undertaken in 2023 and shared with the Economic Affairs Division & Ministry of Transport, Peoples Republic of China on May 4, 2023.

He requested the prime minister to order the ministry concerned to facilitate the framework agreement for the execution of the KCR under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

He also requested the prime minister to direct the railways ministry to grant the “Right of Way” (RoW) of the KCR to the Sindh government.

At this, the prime minister directed the planning minister to take up the KCR project and remove all the impediments in its way so that it could be executed.

NHA asked to allow heavy traffic on Lyari Expressway

Briefing the prime minister, the CM said that the Lyari Expressway was a 16.5-kilometre-long, dual carriageway on the Lyari River banks.

The project was originally designed for heavy traffic, but it was being used for light traffic only, he said and requested the prime minister to direct the National Highway Authority (NHA) to allow heavy traffic on the expressway to ease traffic congestion in the city. The PM directed the NHA to consider the issue and submit a report to his secretariat.

Sindh Transport Minister Sharjeel Memon requested the prime minister to provide 300 buses for Karachi.

However, the PM said that the federal government would provide 150 buses to the Sindh transport department to add them to their existing fleet.

Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway

About Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway, the PM was informed that the construction of the 306-km-long, six-lane, access-controlled fenced M-6 project was originally included in the CPEC but removed without assigning any reason.

The project was approved by Ecnec in July 2020 with an estimated cost of Rs165.67 billion. It was revised in May 2021 at the cost of Rs191.47bn. The project work was, however, awarded by the NHA for Rs308.194bn under the Public-Private-Partnership mode.

The CM said that it was reported that the project had again scrapped. He asked the PM to direct the NHA to undertake the project in the next financial year.

The PM said that he would discuss the matter with the communication ministry and get the matter resolved on a priority basis.

About the Jamshoro-Sehwan Road, the CM told the prime minister that the N-55 project was approved in 2017 for Rs14 billion and the Sindh government was forced to pay 50 per cent cost of the project.

He said that the provincial government in 2017 had paid Rs7bn, but the project continued to suffer delays as the release of the federal government funds was not sufficient to complete the much-awaited road scheme.

The prime minister directed the NHA chairman to speed up the work on N-55 and report to him. He also ordered the release of funds, if pending.

Earlier, the CM informed the PM that the federal government had not yet released its 50pc share of Rs25bn for the construction of houses for flood-affected people.

He further said that the reconstruction of schools in flood-hit areas costs Rs11.917bn, the CM said and added the federal government had assured to bear 50pc cost. “During the current financial year, the federal government had to fulfil its commitment of Rs2bn but nothing has been released so far,” he added.

The PM was told that only 19 schemes of Rs144.743bn were included in the federal public sector development programme (PSDP). “This year the federal government has allocated Rs53.124bn against which only Rs12.079bn has been utilised,” the CM said and added 11 out of 19 schemes had zero releases to date.

The CM said that federal government had asked for schemes to be included in PSDP 2023-24. “The Sindh government submitted 55 schemes but only four were approved and included in the PSDP but not a single penny has been released by the federal government to start the schemes,” he said.

The CM said that no funds had been released so far for the Rs39.942bn project for the lining of the KB feeder though the project had an allocation of Rs3bn in the federal PSDP.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2024