EDITORIAL: The government deserves praise for remembering its promise about the Karachi Transformation Plan (KTP). The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) finally agreed to it, even though the final cost of Rs739 billion is a little less than the Rs1.1 trillion originally mentioned in September, and it would be financed through the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) and public-private partnerships (PPP). That much is welcome news, especially since the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet deferred its approval, not for the first time, just last month, which made for all the wrong types of headlines. Promises about PSDP are always seen with suspicion, because nobody knows when the government will pull it away for more pressing holes to plug elsewhere, but feeding a part of it to KTP is as good a use as any. And PPP should not be any problem at all because there would obviously be many big and willing private parties in what is after all the largest metropolis of the country. So the sooner they lock-in the money the better because they will have to move with exemplary speed and precision if this plan is to have even half a chance of gaining the right kind of momentum.
Hopefully any disagreements between the centre and the Sindh government, like the one that immediately followed the announcement of the plan some months ago, will not make any more unwelcome and unproductive appearances. That means they will have to sort out areas of responsibility, and if the Sindh government has to throw any money into the project like it claimed not too long ago, very clearly before everybody jumps in. Once everything is settled in black and white, the long work of addressing the city’s many infrastructure and municipal problems can begin at last. The Plan will cover the city’s water supply, sewerage treatment and disposal, solid waste management, storm water drains, improvement/rehabilitation of internal roads, and mass transit system; all of which have suffered from an unforgivable combination of neglect, corruption and plunder for far too long.
There is, however, the matter of political will. Not only is a lot of it going to be needed to see the KTP through to its planned end, but perhaps even more would be required to make sure that the city does not go back to its old ways and wastes whatever is so painstakingly gained. The best that can be hoped for in the medium term is that this exercise becomes a run for votes, so to speak, in a way that the people see what the government is doing and appreciate it, and that gives the central and provincial administrations greater stake in keeping everything on track and claiming it at the polls.
Karachi provides 65 percent of federal and about 90 percent of Sindh’s revenue, after all, so taking care of it means taking care of the whole country. If it can be such a pillar of support for the economy when its residents have to live with things like constant water shortage, rotting waste alongside main roads, very high crime and the whole city drowning every monsoon, then there’s no telling what wonders it can do when its problems are taken care of. How well Pakistan does after the pandemic will be dictated by how strong and resilient its economy is at that time. And since the state of Karachi’s health has a very direct bearing on the country’s economy, implementing KTP right can go a long way in helping decide the fate of the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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