Fifth time lucky?: Dairy village still a dream despite four budget allocations

The provincial government has yet to start work on the project which was to be completed by 2013.

KARACHI:

The Sindh government has been regularly allocating a fixed amount for the development of infrastructure for the ‘Bhanbhore dairy village and meat-processing zone’ in the last four budgets. It has, however, failed to utitlise the allocation, allowing it to lapse at the end of each financial year.

The1300-acre stretch of land that has been allotted for the project is located around 58 kilometres away from Karachi. Today, the barren land denotes the state of affairs of the project. Very little of the boundary wall that had been erected to demarcate the area now remains intact.

“The project was to be initiated through public-private partnership,” said an official of the livestock department. “The investors will not come until the government develops basic infrastructure such as roads, link roads, overhead bridges, electricity, water, drainage and a waste disposal system.” The official added that the land was a hilly area and no effort had been made to level the ground for construction.

The idea to construct the dairy village was conceived due to the overcrowded cattle market in Karachi. The project was meant to boost the livestock and dairy trade in the city. Milk-processing plants, cold storage, feed mills, fodder markets, slaughterhouses, meat-processing zones and breeding grounds for buffaloes were to be setup under the scheme.

According to the budget documents, Rs2.8 billion were allocated for the development of the project which was to be completed by 2013. The government officials and ministers of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), however, have no tangible answer why they failed to meet the deadline.

There has been no dearth of funds too: the government had allocated Rs1,195 million in the 2013-14 to expedite  the development work. No one knows where this money has gone.

Sindh livestock minister Jam Khan Shoro told The Express Tribune that despite the fact that the funds were allocated for the purpose several times, they were never released. “We have again allocated Rs500 million for the project in this year’s budget. I hope we will get the funds this year and get the work started.” The minister explained that 100 plots, each sprawling over five acres will be given to dairy farms while the same number of plots will be provided for meat-processing outlets.

The biogas generated from the organic waste will be used to produce electricity.  Shoro revealed that after the initial development stage, they would hand over the project to the board of investment which would bring in investors for the public-private partnership venture.  “The land will be leased free of cost to investors for 90 years. They only have to invest in different projects in the dairy village.”

In response to a question regarding the power source at the site, the minister said that there would be no issue of energy crisis as the area was rich in terms of wind potential and the provincial government had signed an agreement with foreign companies for the generation of electricity. “We will be able to generate around 200 megawatts through the wind-mill project adjacent to Bhanbhore within a year from now.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2014.