KARACHI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Wednesday the government will try to bring the Karachi Circular Railway project under the umbrella of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Talking to the media persons along with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah after a one-on-one meeting on Wednesday, the prime minister said that provision of clean drinking water to Karachi residents is a big challenge.
He directed to take measures for providing potable water to the residents of Karachi on a priority basis. He assured that the federal government will provide all possible cooperation to the provincial government in addressing the civic issues.
He said availability of comfortable transport facilities are another big challenge and efforts will be made to provide air-conditioned buses to the citizens of Karachi. Shehbaz mentioned that earlier Chinese authorities had shown interest in KCR; however, due to political changes, things weren’t finalised.
Highlighting Orange Line and Green Line projects, Shehbaz said he has asked Shah to bring air-conditioned buses to Karachi. “I have suggested Shah bring thousands of air-conditioned buses in a transparent manner while pre-qualifying transporters followed by a bidding,” he said, adding that transporters will then be allowed to take a loan from banks at minimal interest rates.
He also acknowledged the Sindh government and the chief minister for their warm hospitality. The PM was also presented with ajrak by the Sindh CM.
Before the leaders’ press conference, they held a meeting, where, according to the spokesperson of the Chief Minister House, the prime minister directed the chief minister to make all-out efforts for the welfare of the people and the safety of their lives and properties.
The chief minister congratulated the premier on the occasion for assuming the office of the prime minister and assured him that the Sindh government will work closely with the federal government for the welfare of the people of the province.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Maryam Aurangzeb, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Maulana Asad Mehmood and Ahsan Iqbal besides other officials.
During the meeting, CM Sindh informed the premier that Karachi Transformation Plan (KTP) was announced in 2020 with an outlay of Rs1.17 billion for various projects in the areas of water supply, sewerage treatment management, internal roads, and mass transit.
The share of the provincial government is Rs686 billion whereas the federal PSDP share is Rs487 billion, the chief minister said, adding that the total cost of public-private partnership projects, at an advanced stage, was Rs176.9 billion and the total viable gap fund for the projects was Rs32 billion every year.
The chief minister requested the prime minister to issue necessary directives for the issuance of sovereign guarantees for mega projects and allocate Rs10 billion per year to finance provincial governments’ annual obligation of Rs32 billion. At this, the prime minister assured the chief minister that the federal government would support the Sindh government.
