A briefing was held in the Presidency on Thursday to review the progress made on various development projects in Sindh with President Asif Ali Zardari in the chair. It was also attended by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Water and Power Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Faryal Talpur, MNA, Secretary General to the President; provincial ministers Murad Ali Shah and Jameel Soomro, Sindh Chief Secretary and Federal and provincial secretaries of the relevant ministries.
Briefing the journalists spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that the meeting was informed that work on the project of lining of distributaries and minors in the province had already been taken in hand. Over 100 channels, spreading over 860 miles, are to be lined at a cost of nearly Rs 14 billion in the next five years. Work on 10 channels in Sukkur, Guddu and Kotri barrage areas had already been completed, while work on 65 channels was in progress.
Contract for lining of another 34 channels was yet to be awarded. The meeting was informed that Rs 1.2 billion, allocated for 2008-09, were fully utilised. About the revamping of irrigation and drainage system in the province, the meeting was informed that in all 14 canal systems in the province had been selected for revamping.
The project costing nearly Rs 17 billion was approved by the Ecnec in November last and will be completed in eight years. Babar said the President directed the concerned departments to speed up work on the project as it was critical for delivering equitable share of water to the farmers at the tail reaches of irrigation channels.
The meeting was informed that the project to carry the effluent of RBOD-1 to sea, starting from Sehwan, was expected to be completed by 2011. The extension of RBOD, costing Rs 29 billion, is 273-kilometre long. The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman informed the meeting that a study was being carried out for the treatment of RBOD effluent for various other issues.
The President directed that extra care needed to be taken to ensure that the drainage effluent of RBOD-I was taken to the sea so that the Manchur Lake and Kotri barrage were not polluted.
Babar quoted the President as saying that water, whether fresh or brackish, was a precious resource in view of its shortage, which should not be wasted. The President directed that the study, being carried out, should take into account this factor and suggest ways of utilising water instead of disposing it off into the sea unutilised.
The meeting was also briefed on the progress, made on the setting up of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto University and a medical college in Lyari in her memory. The medical college, to be affiliated with the Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, will initially admit 100 students. The Project Director for the college had already been appointed and 50 Rs million provided through grant for establishing the college.
The meeting was informed that the university would initially start functioning in the Government Boys Degree College, Lyari, and offer bachelors and masters programmes in social sciences, commerce, marine science and medicine. The President directed that legislation for the establishment of the university be expedited.
The President also inquired about the renovation of the existing building to serve initially as the new university and the faculty raised. The President directed that the project of building a separate campus for Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto University, Lyari, should also be expedited. The meeting was also briefed on the Keenjhar Lake resort project.
The President directed the Finance Secretary to carry out a study on financing the project through capital market monies or debt market monies instead of using the banking system monies. By adopting this mode of financing, the borrowers market will be expanded instead of squeezing it by borrowing from banks, the President said.
He asked the Finance Ministry to submit a report on this model within a month. The President said that if this model of financing was feasible, it could be utilised for financing all big public-private developmental projects without overheating the banking system. The meeting was also briefed about the proposed new city, Zulfikarbad, in Sindh.
The President remarked that professional firms might be involved in the exercise to recommend the best site for the new city. The meeting was informed that the proposed city would comprise coastal areas of Jati, Shah Bunder, Keti Bunder and Kharo Chhan.
Nearly 400,000 acres of land was immediately available, while another 900,000 acres of land could be reclaimed after the construction of dykes. The President observed that in selecting the site, care should be taken to protect the mangrove forests and secondly the location should be on state land so that litigation and other problems, associated with requisitioning private land, was avoided.