Wi Fi, CCTV and solar lights yet to be installed in Karachi

Sharjeel Memon made headlines by signing MoUs for these services

KARACHI: Despite lapse of a year, the Sindh government's decision to install Wi-Fi, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and solar lights facilities throughout Karachi has yet to see the light of the day.

The project made headlines when the then local government minister, Sharjeel Inam Memon, signed Memorandaof Understanding (MoUs) with foreign companies in 2015 to launch these services in Karachi.



These projects have remained in limbo following Memon's decision to suddenly leave the country as no one in Sindh knows the status of these projects. Apart from this, a project to establish a rental desalination plant was also supposed to start its services last Ramazan [holy month] by supplying 40 million gallons of water per day in Karachi. However, there has been no word on it by the incumbent local government ministry and the entire Sindh government machinery is hushed up on it. This project was also announced by Memon, who also held the charge of two other portfolios, including rural development and public health engineering departments.

A senior official in the local government department, requesting anonymity, said that Memon would know about the projects. "Otherwise, there is no work pending on these projects," he said.

Announcing these projects in 2015, Memon had said that he had announced the MoU with three international companies based in Dubai, China and United States and gave it a name, 'Karachi Smart City Project'.

"We are planning to turn Karachi into a city of lights by initially providing modern solar street lights to minimise the energy crises and free Wi Fi services along with installing CCTV cameras from Clifton to Sharae Faisal," Memon had said at a press conference last year. "In the second phase, these facilities will be replicated in the entire city. I mean no street will be spared from these services. We have estimated $20 million for the first phase of this project while the total budget for this entire project may jump to $200 million." Memon was of the view that the programme for upgrading street light will replace bulbs with modern light-emitting diode (LED) system, which will also allow free internet and Wi Fi for citizens.



Soon after this announcement, Memon left the country making Dubai his permanent abode, following reports of inquiries being conducted against him in corruption cases. When contacted over the phone, Memon refused to comment on the issue. "I will soon return to Pakistan and give you my viewpoint on it," he claimed. He said that many foreign companies had assured him to invest in this project and representatives of a US company, Rick David, were supposed to visit Pakistan. "I suddenly left the country because of my health issue," he claimed. "Here, the party has given me responsibility. After completing it, I will return to Pakistan." He did not give details of the responsibility or the date of his return.

Meanwhile, his successor, local government minister Jam Khan Shoro, had no idea about the rental desalination project and others schemes or the MoUs signed by Memon. "I have no idea," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2016.