If the budget released for constructing roads was used properly, Balochistan could have had silver roads, a Balochistan chief secretary had said several years ago. The situation of Sindh is no different. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah proudly detailed the three-year performance of his government in the Sindh Assembly, but sources claim that the chief minister has nothing to be proud of and has very little to show for it.
The situation of Sindh’s roads has been deplorable after the flood. Records show that roads were reconstructed, but the reality is quite different. The government had signed to acquire a loan of $150 million from the Asian Development Bank for the Road Sector Development Programme on February 1, 2002. Moreover, $15 million were to be provided by the OPEC Fund for International Development and $71 million by the Sindh Government, making the total cost of the project as $236 million.
The loan was declared effective from September 15, 2002 and it was to be utilised by June 30, 2007; however, no one knows which roads were actually constructed with these funds. Complaints have been received from every part of the province regarding the condition of roads that have always been in an abysmal state and damage quickly and easily. Two months ago, in a briefing arranged by the Works & Services Department for the Members Provincial Assembly, photos of irrelevant roads were displayed during a presentation about flood-hit roads.
The government has claimed that these roads were made motorable with the help of allocated funds of $405, but even after allegedly spending the huge amount of money, the condition of roads in many districts is anything but motorable.
We could’ve had silver roads with our budget
