‘Sindh is not a colony’

CM lambasts Centre for channeling uplift work through SIDCL

KARACHI: Stating that the federal government had ‘unacceptably’ decided to carry out its development work in Sindh through a company the Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited (SIDCL), Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah slammed the Centre for ‘considering the province to be a colony of Islamabad.’

He was addressing a press conference at the Sindh Assembly building following a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan to review the country’s economic situation in the present fiscal year and the outlook for the upcoming year, on Wednesday.

The CM said he had found discrepancies in the document for the next proposed Public Sector Development Programme (PDSP) previously and had received a revised document on Wednesday, showing that a separate federally-controlled company was formed to carry out the Centre’s development schemes in Sindh.

“Every province has been given funds to carry out uplift work, but SIDCL has been formed for Sindh. This is quite surprising and new to me,” he stated, claiming that for the first time, around 22 schemes, including 20 for Sindh, had been assigned for implementation for the Cabinet division. “But the Cabinet division is not an agency for executing development schemes.”

He stated that the provincial government had serious objections to SIDCL, asking why such companies had not been formed in other provinces where the federal government was making large investments.

He added that he had objected to this in the NEC meeting, pointing out that in 2015, the federal government had decided to construct the Green Line bus rapid transit in Karachi through the Karachi Infrastructure Development Company Ltd, but there were discrepancies in the funding of the project. He also highlighted delays and other issues in other federal schemes for the province.

Furthermore, he said, there were no schemes for Sindh in the new projects included in the new PDSP, apart from two energy schemes.

Stating that the NEC meeting was scheduled to be held in Islamabad, he said he was informed at the last minute that the CMs and other provincial officials would join it via video-link, further complaining that his microphone had been muted during the meeting, though the PM had denied giving any such orders.

According to Shah, the growth target for the current fiscal year was estimated at four per cent but had turned out to be -0.4 per cent, while in the previous year, the target had been 6.2 per cent but growth ended up being 1.9 per cent, even though the federal government had shown it as 3.3 per cent. “The provincial governments should be told accurate figures so they can plan accordingly,” he insisted.

He further pointed out that Sindh had been told it would receive Rs835 billion this year but was only receiving Rs606 billion. “This is a shortfall of Rs229 billion, which has badly affected our development portfolio.”

‘Helpless about lockdown’

Meanwhile, asked about the pandemic situation in the province, Shah said he did not need to comment on the issue because the latest statistics spoke for themselves, pointing out that Sindh had seen the most new Covid-19 cases and most virus-related deaths on Wednesday.

He claimed that the Sindh government was helpless in imposing further restrictions in the face of the orders given by the Supreme Court to reopen shops and markets and the federal government’s downplaying of the threat.

“We went to the apex court and told them we do not want to reopen [shops], but we were told to follow the Centre’s lead. What else could we do?” he asked. Once the verdict was made and the Centre’s views on the lockdown became clear, he added, the public became less serious about the threat.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2020.