With the international community’s support, the Sindh government will construct 200,000 houses in the rural areas of the province for the poor and the flood survivors, Adviser to the Chief Minister on Planning and Development Dr Kaiser Bengali said on Saturday.“Around 236 houses have been completed and handed over to the owners … in the first phase, 40,000 houses would be constructed and the remaining in the second phase,” he added “America, Iran and Turkey are supporting the project of constructing new model villages with all basic facilities.” The adviser said that the Irrigation Department has approached the British government for rehabilitation, repair and remodelling of the Sukkur Barrage.
An agreement with the Asian Development Bank for $450 million has been signed and the first instalment of the loan would reach the province this month. The provincial government has also been constructing infrastructure for the Thar coal power plants and power generation from the coal plants could start from 2016. Bengali said that a road network plan with an investment of Rs 105 billion has also been started with public-private partnership and these roads are being constructed to match the standards of a motorway.
The projects include the 61km Ratodero-Thamim-Jacobabad road, the 70km Humayun-Thull-Kandhkot road, the 162km Qazi Ahmed-Nawabshah-Sanghar-Mirpurkhas road, the 69km Hala-Shahdadpur-Sanghar road, the 296km Karachi-Thatta-Badin-Mithi-Islamkot road and the 26km National Highway-Super Highway link. The Sindh government has approved two bridges over the Indus River, namely the Qadirpur-Kandhkot Bridge and the Jhirk-Mullah Katiyar Bridge, which would reduce the distance between the cities on both sides of the river.Under the Public-Private Health Initiative (PPHI), the provincial government has restored 1,029 health facilities in 19 districts of Sindh, including basic health units and dispensaries, and every PPHI has a lady doctor as well, the adviser said.
