CM for expediting Safe City Project

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah directed the Planning and Development Board to prepare Project Concept (PC-1) of the Safe City project on war footings in case bids for the project can be invited for physical launch of the project within next four months.

"We are already late in implementing the project and now no unnecessary delay will be allowed," the CM said this while presiding over a meeting to review the progress of Safe City Project. The meeting was attended by Provincial Minister Taimur Talpur, CM Special Assistant on IT Ms Tanzila, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Chairman P&D Hassan Naqvi, and Secretary Home Saeed Mangnijo, Secretary Finance Sajid Jamal Abro, DG Sindh Safe Cities Authorities DIG Maqsood Memon and other concerned officials.

While briefing the CM Director General Safe City Authority Maqsood Memon said that the Authority was established in January 2022 to implement safe city projects all over Sindh but in the first phase the establishment of Safe City in Karachi is under process. Under the plan, 10,000 new cameras will be installed at 2000 spots in three phases apart from upgrading the existing 2000 camera as per Safe city specification.

The cost of the project as per a consultant was estimated over Rs27 billion in which all aspects were not covered, Maqsood Memon said. He further said that the consultant has already been asked to submit a detailed proposal. Meanwhile, the National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC), after signing an MOU with the provincial government, submitted a proposal of Rs29 billion as an estimated cost of the project.

Wheat stocks

CM Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema in their meeting at Cm House discussed available wheat stock, new crop harvested recently and further requirements so that necessary iport could be made in time.

The meeting was attended by Minister Food Mukesh Chawla, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, provincial Secretary Food Raja Khurram Shahzad, Wheat Commissioner Ministry of Food Security Imtiaz Gopang, Special Secretary to CM Rahim Shaikh and others.

The chief minister thanked Cheema for his timely intervention to assess wheat stocks and production of new crops so that necessary measures could be taken to meet the shortage, if any.

Federal Minister Tariq Bashir Cheema said that the federal government has decided to assess the wheat stocks in the province so that shortage could be assessed for importing wheat well in time.

Shah said that the production target of the province was 3.8 MMT against a requirement of 4.7 MMTs, including for seed. He added that the shortfall of 0.9 MMT was met by purchasing wheat from Punjab or from the PASSCO. "Our shortfall is usually met by the private sector," the CM said.

Murad Ali Shah said that the provincial government has set a procurement target of 1.4 million metric tons (MMT) against a support price of Rs5,500 per 100 kg. "We are purchasing wheat from the growers so that a comparatively better price benefit can pass to them," he said.

Provincial Food Minister Mukesh Chawla said that there were higher prices of wheat in the open market.

He added that open market price of 100kgs of wheat grain as on May 5, has been recorded at Rs6,000 in Karachi, Rs5,700 Hyderabad, Rs5850 Mirpurkhas, Rs5,800 Shaheed Benazirabad and Rs5,700 Larkano.

Secretary Food Raja Khurram said that the provincial government was planning to purchase 250,000 metric tons from PASSCO and may also purchase wheat from Punjab.

The federal minister urged the provincial government to calculate its wheat stocks and let the federal government know how much more wheat it needed so that import order, keeping in view the requirement of all the provinces, could be placed in time.

Tariq Bashir Cheema said that Pakistan as an agricultural country must take drastic measures to ensure its food security. At this the chief minister said that due to water shortages we could not bring more land under cultivation, but we could increase our yield by using the latest technologies.

The federal minister agreed to the proposal of the chief minister and said that the federal and provincial agriculture departments sit together and work out proposals for ushering in new cultivation methods to multiply the yield per acre in the country.

Murad Ali Shah, in his concluding remarks, urged the federal minister to offer better prices to the local growers instead of giving better prices to the growers/traders of other countries from where Pakistan wanted to import wheat.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2022.