KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday stated that the provincial government with the support of private partners has developed important projects such as a bridge on Indus River, power plant, coal mining, road and other projects.
“Public private partnership has assumed an important role in the development of Sindh and we are going to expand its scope for better services to the people,” the CM said while presiding over a meeting of public private partnership policy board.
The board discussed different projects that will be launched under Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
The policy board also considered the proposal received from Bahria Town to launch Blue Line project. The Blue Line project is 11.8 Km from Gurumandir via Teen Hati, Liaquatabad Number 10, Karimabad, Ayesha Manzil, Water Pump, Yousuf Plaza, Sohrab Goth to Al-Asif Square.
The policy board approved to take up the project under PPP mode and receive investor solicitation.
Moreover the board also approved the bank for the Yellow Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) which was launched to design, build, finance, maintain and transfer of more than 26Km corridor from Dawood Chowrangi to Numaish and Regal Chowk via Korangi Road and FTC under PPP mode. The finance department had requested the PPP policy board to approve the bank which was approved.
The board was told that a private firm, EcoBus, has submitted a proposal to operate electric air-conditioned buses on all possible public transport routes within the city. The firm has offered to import 50 buses in the first phase. CM Sindh directed the transport department to send the proposal to the technical committee for recommendation and further necessary action.
Furthermore, the board approved a proposal for enhancing PPP project which envisages establishing a company named ‘Project Support Facility (PSF)’ to independently manage the viability gap fund (VGF) to achieve better value and improve risk management. There was a proposal to approve Rs550 million for the fund as agreed with Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Another project called Motor Vehicle Inspection Project (MVI) was award to a private firm. The project was approved in January 2015 but the Transport and Mass Transit Department (TMTD) received only two bids and awarded the contract to start the project.
The Solar Dates Dehydration project was also discussed during the board meeting. Khairpur district has highly favourable agro-climatic conditions for date plantation. Pakistan produces 700,000 tonnes of dates and Khairpur is one of the major contributors.
The board approved the proposal for hiring a consultant with regards to setting up new technology in the area.
The meeting also discussed establishment of Dry Land Farming Research Institute in Mithi and to connect it with a university.
Another important project discussed was Lab-e-Mehran Tourism Development Project in Sukkur. The meeting proposed that the Sukkur riverfront can be turned into a major asset for the city which can improve quality of environment and life in the city. The policy board approved the proposal and directed the culture and tourism department to hire a consultant for the purpose.
