KARACHI, March 22: The Sindh government has created a road sector development directorate, to be guided by a steering committee, with the assistance of a citizens advisory board.

A director-general of the directorate has also been appointed, with some support staff and more comprehensive staffing is under way, including hiring of some skilled people from the open market, official sources said.

The directorate has been created under a recently-signed road sector development credit with the Asian Development Bank that envisages a plan to enhance allocations for repair and maintenance of roads, prepare a suitably prioritized road rehabilitation and maintenance programme based on generally accepted standards for safeguarding and protecting the economic life of roads.

Under the plan, the government will create a non-lapsable protected fund dedicated to regular maintenance activities administered by a board, with the participation of stakeholders.

In road sector, poor maintenance, owing to corruption and allocations that barely meet one-third of the requirement, had caused a deterioration in the road network in Sindh.

Around 70 per cent of the 21,000 kilometres roads in the province are in urgent need of rehabilitation and there was a huge backlog of rehabilitation expenditures estimated at Rs9 billion.

After the devolution, the Sindh government has transferred 16,000 kms of intra-district roads to the district governments, sources said.

According to a medium-term strategy for the road sector, a road master plan would be evolved, besides a five-year rolling investment and maintenance programme, enforcement of an axle load control programme, revision of design standards, specifications and maintenance yardsticks.

The communications and works department has firmed up a rolling road financing plan for a phase-wise road maintenance programme for the 4,819 kms of provincial roads.

There is an approved cost of Rs11.5 million in the ADP of which Rs11.1 million have already been spent and Rs1.4 million have been allocated this year for developing a master plan for roads in Sindh.—PPI