LARKANA, July 9: The Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University would be established in Larkana and the local administration has been asked to identify a plot of 200 acres for the purpose, so that the Sindh government could pay its price.

The additional chief secretary of Planning and Development of Sindh, Nazar Hussain Mahar, said this while presiding over a meeting on Wednesday.

Officials of different departments, elected representatives, members of business community, and agriculture sector representatives attended the meeting.

He said tremendous development activity would soon start in Larkana under a Larkana development package for which both the federal and the provincial governments had allocated total Rs7 billion.

He said the federal and the provincial governments had earmarked Rs5 billion and Rs2 billion, respectively, for different development schemes of roads, education, public health, and other sectors.

He said that the National Highway Authority had been entrusted to start construction work on Sehwan-Ratodero via Dadu road along with widening and strengthening of Moenjodaro to Larkana, Larkana to Naudero, Naudero to Lakhi Ghulam Shah, and Larkana to Nasirabad via Rashid Wagan roads. He said the Sindh government had earmarked Rs2.20 billion for the establishment of industries to provide jobs to educated youth.

He said a guava processing unit would be established in Larkana along with the facilities of a big cold storage for tomatoes.

He said that a fully-fledged Site area would also be established in Larkana while the Sindh government would impart trainings to 40,000 people in different trades.

He said that under a rural support programme loans would be provided to people to purchase agricultural implements.

He urged upon the local administration to identify a plot of 200 acres for the establishment of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University so that the government of Sindh could pay its price.

He said a location near Moenjodaro had already been selected for establishing an engineering college and funds had been allotted for the scheme. He said Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Museum would also be established at an appropriate place in Larkana.

MNA Shahid Hussain asked officers concerned to preparing feasibility reports immediately and send it to concerned quarters.

He disclosed that the work on Larkana-Khairpur Bridge over the Indus River was in full swing and would be completed by Oct 2009.