Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah Friday said the province was not receiving full supply of water as it is witnessing a shortfall of 55 percent. Addressing a post-budget news conference at the CM House, Murad said PPP is the only party that had strengthened after the 2013 general elections in Sindh while other parties have lost their cadres to different parties during five years.
"It is only in Sindh province that PPP had increased its lawmakers after coming into power and is ending its tenure on higher number of lawmakers that were elected at the time of general elections in 2013," he said, adding that the success in the province would help achieve success nationwide.
He said PML-N and PTI are losing their candidates and all three provinces other than Sindh are witnessing loyalty issue before elections. "Balochistan government has been overturned; PTI-led KPK government expelled its 20 members from the party. PML-N lawmakers are also switching loyalties in Punjab," he added.
He said the provincial assembly would be dissolved on May 28 and there would be two months time for the interim government to hold elections.
"We have presented the annual budget but would take authorization from the assembly for three-month expenditure till September 30," he said, adding that although interim government could formulate budget for four months but when there are elected members there is no need for it.
He said the development projects could be hit by lack of funds transfer from the federal government as still they are short of Rs 203 billion as per the initial estimates of federal transfers to the province.
"The federal government initially agreed to transfer Rs 627 billon to the province which was later revised to Rs 589 billion 20 days ago," he said, adding that they received only Rs 423 billion which shows a deficit of Rs 203 billion as per initial estimates and Rs 175 billion as per revised estimates.
The year 2016-17 also witnessed similar situation when the federal government initially estimated funds transfer of Rs 493 billion and later revised it to Rs 480 billion, he said, adding that the final amount which the province received stood at Rs 459 billion and was received in February 2018.
Shedding light on road infrastructure in the province, the chief minister said they had spent Rs 27 billion for completing 41 major road infrastructure projects and 146 small road projects. "Out of 41 major road projects 39 have been completed and only two of them are near completion and facing delays due to some technical reasons," he said.
Among the major roads completed in the province are Karachi-Jhimpir Road via Hyderabad and Thatta, Saeedabad to Rohri Canal Road, Tando Allah Yar to Tando Adam Road, Sanghar to Khipro Road and Naushero Feroz to Nawabshah Road.
He said the provincial government has competed 714 uplift projects in the province during last fiscal year which is a record as the year before they competed over 500 uplift projects.
"Our main focus is to complete projects rather than lingering on projects by announcing small amounts for more projects," he said.
Speaking about the shortage of water in the province, the chief minister said that the province is witnessing a shortfall of 55 percent.
He said projects of lining canals have yielded positive results and now there are most applications for this purpose from different parts of the province. "We allocated Rs 15 billion for this purpose in last budget and also focused on it in this budget," he added.
Speaking about health issues, the chief minister said that health facilities in the province have improved under PPHI.
Elaborating on the NICVD projects, the chief minister said that NICVD in Karachi conducts most primary angioplasty in the world under one roof and that too free of cost.
"We are establishing similar units in other parts of the province and had so far established six units, the chief minister said, adding that six child emergency centres have also been established in Karachi and so far 1.8 million children received treatment in these centres. We are expanding this program of children emergency centres to other parts of the province also," he said.
Citing a report, he said the child survival rate in the province had increased from 15 percent in 2013 to 94 percent today due to hectic efforts.
On education, the chief minister said that the annual budget of Higher Education Commission (HEC) was Rs 6.5 billion while Sindh had only received Rs 200 million.
He said the Sindh government has established 14 universities, 43 degree colleges and 2 cadet colleges.
Discussing mega projects for Karachi, the chief minister said the provincial government has so far launched Rs 10 billion schemes under which many roads, underpasses, bridges and other infrastructure are being built in the city.
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