KARACHI: Finance Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the province has written a letter to the federal government, expressing its reservations on the issue of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC).
“We have asked the federal government to resolve this issue. If the matter is not resolved then we will go to the court,” he said this during a meeting held at the Federal B Area Association of Trade and and Industry (FBATI) – an association representing a cluster of industrial units in the city surrounded by residential areas.
Shah said that Sindh has one of the largest coal reserves in the country in Thar, which Pakistan needs to start utilising to overcome the issue of power shortages.
He said the Sindh government has started mining in Thar with Engro Corporation and mining work on further three blocks is supposed to start shortly. Additionally, China Harbour Engineering Company began mining work in Thar.
Shah said that due to the ongoing power crisis, Sindh government has started two projects that could generate 50MW of electricity.
Shah said that the Sindh government has taken measures to protect industrialists and the common man. “In this context, we have approved the Rs55-billion budget for law enforcement agencies and have also requested the federal government to provide bullet proof jackets and latest weapons.”
According to Shah, due to the additional recruitment in Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC), the Sindh government is facing an additional burden of approximately Rs500 million due to more employees in the organisation.
FBATI President Jawed Ali Ghori said that in order to stop extortion and kidnapping of the industrialists, the provincial government has to take necessary security measures to improve the situation.
“There is also a need of investment in the infrastructure of industrial zones of Karachi, which can be done through joint financial support of Sindh and the federal governments,” he added.
Ghori said that a committee for resolving the problems of industrialists should be reactivated and the problems of Federal B. Industrial area should be resolved.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2014.
Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ