KARACHI – The Sindh government asked the World Bank (WB) on Wednesday to review its decision of not assisting in the development of the Thar coal energy project and provide support to make the scheme possible. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah made this request during a meeting with a WB delegation at the Chief Minister’s House.
The WB officials assured the chief minister that they would review the necessary modalities and further discuss the issue at another meeting to be held today (Thursday). According to an official handout, the chief minister told the WB team that besides restructuring and rehabilitation of flood-hit areas and people, the country’s major problem is shortage of power and the WB had previously promised assistance in the Thar coal project but withdrew the commitment later.
Shah stressed that WB should support the project for assisting the country to overcome the power shortage while providing jobs to the unemployed people and initiating development in the area – both essential for poverty alleviation. WB Country Director Pakistan Rachid Benmessanod appreciated the provincial government for its concerted efforts for the rehabilitation of flood survivors and restructuring flood-affected areas.
“With regard to assistance and support for Thar coal project, the necessary modalities will be reviewed and the issue will be further discussed in a subsequent meeting to be held on Thursday,” Benmessanod stated, adding that the affected people would be assisted in the rehabilitation process.
Thanking the WB for its support, the chief minister said the present government has made efforts during the last three years to provide facilities to the masses according to the expectations of the people. He added that due to heavy floods, the infrastructure of irrigation, educational institutions, health centres, communication network and roads were badly damaged and the government is trying for the early recovery.
Sindh Senior Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq, Agriculture Minister Syed Ali Nawaz Shah, Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo, Adviser to Chief Minister on Planning and Development Kaiser Bengali, Chief Secretary Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha, provincial secretaries of Irrigation, Agriculture and Coal Mining departments presented detailed reports on the issues of energy, water, communication and irrigation sectors.
They said that after the floods, 20 towns and 11,000 villages were submerged while the river embankments were severely damaged. About 70,000 people are still living in relief camps and the government is providing them with food, healthcare and other facilities. The chief minister added that the provincial government has encouraged public-private partnerships and work is in progress on the Mirpurkhas-Hyderabad dual carriage highway, while an advertisement regarding construction of two bridges has been published.
The Sindh government forum stressed upon the WB team to extend full cooperation and assistance for the development schemes as its cooperation in the Thar coal project will attract other global agencies also. The meeting was also attended by Senior Economist Hamid Mukhtar, operations analyst Ayesha Ahmed, Chief Minister Secretary Ahmed Bux Narejo, Education Secretary Naheed Shah Durrani, the Planning and Development chief economist, the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority managing director, the project directors of Water Sector Improvement Project and Sindh Education Reform Programme among others.
