KARACHI: The repair and rehabilitation work of roads and revamping of drainage system in the SITE area has not yet started despite approval of funds for the work by the Sindh government six months ago, which has worsened the state of infrastructure in the main industrial hub of the country.

In September 2020, the chief minister approved Rs1.037 billion for the said works in the SITE area on demand and protest by industrialists.

These funds were allocated for the reconstruction of 19 roads in SITE.

The KDA was given the job to rehabilitate two of these roads while the remaining 17 roads were to be built under the Karachi Mega City Project.

The revised PC-I of the roads allotted to the KDA has not yet been approved despite the passage of more than three months.

“Under these conditions, it has become very difficult for industrialists to reach their factories. Even pedestrians are facing a lot of difficulties in reaching their destinations. Not only this, many transporters have refused to pick up export consignments from the factories in SITE area while those who agree, demand four times more freight charges. The increase in freight and transportation cost has a direct impact on the cost of production, thereby making exports uncompetitive in the international markets,” said Abdul Hadi, president of the SITE Association of Industry in a statement.

Mr Hadi expressed serious concerns over delay in starting infrastructure restoration work in the SITE area and appealed to the chief minister of Sindh to take notice of the situation and issue directives regarding the uplift work on an urgent basis.

The association chief mentioned that due to completely destroyed infrastructure in the SITE area, incidents of overturning of loaded trucks and vehicles had become a routine which was not only causing financial losses to factories, but also posing a threat to precious lives. He pointed out that many people had suffered injuries in such incidents. In addition, due to rickety roads, robbery incidents have also increased in the area.

Mr Hadi urged the chief minister to take personal interest in resolving the issues of the SITE area and issue immediate orders to the departments concerned to start infrastructure uplift work.

He also appealed to the chief minister of Sindh to issue notification of the oversight committee as per his commitment and give representation to the SITE Association of Industry in the committee for monitoring quality of the uplift work.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2021