What’s going on? No work to show for Rs7 billion worth of ‘special packages’

Sindh CM sternly asks authorities to expedite work and give revised deadlines.

KARACHI: Despite the allocation of Rs7 billion in special packages for various cities and towns of the province six months ago, development work has not yet started.

This lack of progress irked Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah at a development schemes review meeting on Monday where officials presented a progress report. Shah questioned the concerned officials about the failure to meet the deadlines to initiate various schemes. He directed the officials to expedite the work and report back to him within 15 days.

The chief minister (CM), while presiding over the meeting, asked planning & development department officials to prepare an Integrated Master Plan for the development of all districts of the province in the long-term and to submit special development schemes on an immediate basis for backward districts such as Tharparkar under the short-term programme within two weeks.

Finance department officials informed the CM that out of the Rs185 billion allocated for the overall annual development portfolio, around Rs70 billion have so far been released for development works during the financial year of 2013-2014. Out of the released amount, Rs33 billion are reported to have been utilised.

Shah said that his government was taking a keen interest in providing fast and cheap transportation facilitates to the people of Karachi and directed the authorities to bring 200 new buses as soon as possible.

He asked officials to devise a plan for the 314 development schemes and to submit a final deadline within two days for the completion of these schemes.

Rs409.02 million was allocated for Hyderabad Development Package, Rs1.69 billion for  Shaheed Benazirabad, Rs1.04 billion for Larkana, Rs2.59 billion for  the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation , Rs599.51 million for  Lyari, Rs435 million for Sukkur and Rs382.348 million for Mirpurkhas.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2014.