KARACHI, Dec 10: In view of shortage of funds to carry out development projects under Tameer-i-Karachi Programme (TKP), the Sindh Government has asked federal government to release its share to expedite the work.

Well-placed sources said that the authorities in the provincial government took the step following the request of the City Nazim, who had asked for releasing the amount as per share for the current year.

Sources said that a letter has been moved and a response is still awaited from the top level. The federal government would contribute Rs3 billion in TKP under the Karachi Package, announced by President General Musharraf in August last year.

However, the federal government did not set aside any amount in current year's budget despite the need of funds in the TKP to give a boost to development activities.

Interestedly, the Sindh Government, which moved the letter to the federal government, has not yet released its share to the city government despite allocating Rs 1 billion for TKP in provincial government's budget for 2004-05.

The share of the Sindh government in TKP for four years is Rs6 billion. Apart from Rs 3 billion and Rs6 billion announced by the federal and provincial governments, respectively, the city government's contribution stands at Rs6 billion while the remaining Rs12 billion would be shared by different stakeholders of the city.

Sources said that development works, undertaken so far under the TKP have been carried out solely on the funds of the city government, whereas some projects have been taken up by some stakeholders.

This delay in releasing the funds, sources added, had slowed down the pace of work as envisaged initially. The city government has earmarked Rs2 billion in its current budget for TKP besides Rs.0.50 billion separately for Water and Sewerage Board for water and sewerage sector.

However, sources hoped that the released is expected to be released by the Sindh Government shortly. Export Processing Zone has taken up the construction of Shahrah-i-Mehran, Quaidabad flyover by Pakistan Steel, M T Khan Road, M.A.Jinnah Road, Mai Kolachi Road and Hino Pak Flyover by the Karachi Port Trust, University Road by PIA, some projects by banks and financial institutions and Shahrah-i-Ghalib by Corps Headquarters. -PPI