‘Sindh govt looking to tackle city’s water woes’
The judicial commission directed on Saturday the managing-director of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to issue show-cause notices to ghost employees of the water utility's laboratories. PHOTO: EXPRESS
The Sindh government is well aware of Karachi's water crisis and authorities are looking to tackle it, claimed Karachi Commissioner Sohail Rajput while meeting British deputy high commissioner Mike Nithavrianakis on Sunday.
During the meeting, the commissioner informed the diplomat about executed and future projects pertaining to health, education and infrastructure under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Rajput stated that the Asian Development Bank was currently assisting a PPP project meant to permit the treatment of 360 million gallons per day of wastewater, while the International Finance Corporation was providing transaction advisory services for the revamping of the Hub Canal.
Meanwhile, PPP director general Khalid Mehmood Shaikh told Nithavrianakis that planned mega-projects under the PPP model included the Malir Expressway, a project to would supply water to independent power producers in Thar and a wastewater treatment plant for SITE.
Nithavrianakis lauded the provincial government's efforts to attract private investment through the PPP framework. He further emphasised that Pakistan could benefit from the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF), a UK government export agency, in obtaining its support for diverse range of international projects, which could further boost trade between both the countries.
Rajput and the diplomat agreed to hold further discussions about the UKEF, areas of mutual interests and cooperation.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 19th, 2020.