PPP policy board approves four projects

KARACHI: The 23rd meeting of the Public-Private Policy Board was chaired by the Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday. The chief minister approved four projects of the transport and mass transit as well as finance and health departments.

All the board members, including minister health Dr Sikandar Mendhro, minister local government Jam Khan Shoro, minister information Syed Nasir Shah, MPAs Awais Shah, chairman P&D Mohammad Waseem, principal secretary to CM Sohail Rajput, VC NED Dr Soresh Hashmat Lodhi and others attended the meeting.

The Transport & Mass Transit Department (TMTD) has received an unsolicited proposal on the infrastructure component of the BRT Blue Line from the consortium of EA consulting.

The chief minister was told that the proposal has provided a financing option under which the private equity would be 16 percent and the Sindh government would be 14 percent while there would be a 70 percent loan.

The board approved the project saying that in case of price escalation the provincial government would bear 50 percent of the total cost.

It may be noted that the estimated cost of the project would be more than Rs16 billion.

The TMTD has also received an unsolicited proposal for the intra-city buses. The proposal proposes to ply up to 2000 buses within two years on the designated routes at the desired frequency as per the directions of the department.

The Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA) would pay a fixed kilometer charge to the operator on the basis of achieving the guaranteed minimum kilometers per year per bus. The chief minister was told that the project intends to complement the BRT Lines & KCR by providing the customers with a wider option of travelling to various destinations within Karachi.

The PPP board approved the hiring of transaction advisors for the feasibility study of the intra-bus service in Karachi and approved the funding for the same from the project development fund (PDF).

Green & Orange Line (bus operation service project):

The SMTA in collaboration with the PPP unit launched the Green and Orange Line – Bus Operation service project invited proposal in which two bidders – Daewoo Express Bus Service Ltd. and a consortium of Transport Pvt. had participated.

After adopting the due procedure, both the bidders were deemed qualified. The PPP board approved the signing of a concessional agreement with the preferred bidder.

With the development assistance through KfW – German Development Bank, the construction of four state of the art regional blood centers (RBCs) in Sindh was completed in 2015. The provision of these facilities involved civil construction, supplies of medical and non-medical equipment and office accessories. Under the agreement signed between the health department and KfW, the HD is responsible for the operation and maintenance of facilities.

The health department and KfW have agreed with the consensus that the RBC may be contracted out to an experienced and established private sector organisation under the PPP mode. In this regard, a summary had been initiated for the PPP policy board.

The PPP policy board has approved both the summary and the proposal.