Paved roads in Sukkur still a distant dream for residents

Chief secretary's orders for immediate release of Rs250m yet to be implemented

SUKKUR: Paved roads are still a distant dream for Sukkur residents as the chief secretary's orders to immediately release Rs250 million for road development have yet to be implemented after 10 days.

Sindh chief secretary Muhammad Siddique Memon had visited Sukkur on January 16 when he noticed the poor civic conditions in the province's third largest urban centre. He announced that Rs250 million will be released immediately to repair broken roads and maintain buildings.

Several main roads in the city have developed craters and potholes while several others have sewage water accumulated on them. Driving has become a hazard for residents and pedestrians live their worst nightmare every day as they manoeuvre their way to their destinations.

A government official, who requested anonymity, blamed it on corruption. Unfortunately, Sukkur is the city that has always been subjected to loot and plunder by its own elected representatives, he said. Most of the contractors, who get contracts for the government's development projects, are affiliated to one or the other politician, he explained, adding that these contractors not only get full payments before they even start working, but are known to leave projects incomplete.

The residents and traders of Sukkur have gotten together to form the Sukkur Development Alliance (SDA), which has held sit-ins in the past to shake the authorities into action.



The association complained that the government spends Rs22 billion on Sukkur's development yet the city still appears broken. Despite a series of protests in the past, the alliance has had little to no success. SDA chairperson Jawed Memon assured that their struggle will continue until all development projects are completed. "Our protest had slowed down due to the local government elections but now, once again, we will start with renewed pledge," he added.

For his part, Sukkur deputy commissioner Shahzad Fazal Abbasi assured that the funds promised by the chief secretary will hopefully be released soon. All the broken main roads of the city will be repaired properly, he said. He listed the following roads as the ones that desperately need repairs: Clock Tower, Shikarpur, Minara, Civil hospital, Station, Race Course and others.

Shoddy repairs

A week or so ahead of the local government elections, some roads in the city, such as Miani, Bunder and Nishter roads, which were awaiting completion, were quickly paved with substandard material, a fact admitted by the deputy commissioner.

The condition of Bunder Road was so bad that it should have been scrapped entirely before it was repaved but the authorities merely did some patch work. The contractor scrapped merely a few spots before laying a three-inch layer of stones, which was reduced to one inch after pressing.

"The road should have been scrapped entirely," said deputy commissioner Abbasi. "After the funds are released, all the roads will be repaired properly," he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2016.