KARACHI, April 17: The Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) has approved the concept paper of the Sindh Coastal and Inland Community Development Project, being executed by the Sindh Coastal Development Authority (SCDA) at a cost of Rs48.840 million. The project, commencing in July, will be completed in 11 months. The project site is stretched over the coastal belt of Karachi, Thatta and Badin.
The cost involved has a share of the Asian Development Bank to the tune of Rs39 million while the Sindh government’s share is Rs9.84 million.
This project is in pursuance of the ADB’s fact-finding mission which had visited coastal areas of Thatta and Badin districts in September and October last year to develop a Project Preparatory Technical Assistance (PPTA) for the project.
The proposed technical assistance would focus on institutional requirements for project investment and identify investment components for the rehabilitation of roads, jetties, village infrastructure, community development, micro-credits, etc.
The investment in projects will be identified on the basis of subject feasibility study of Policy and Institution, Natural Resource Economist, Coastal Resource Management, Coastal Fisheries Infrastructure, Rural Sociologist/Community Development, Gender and Development, Coastal Environmental Development, Rural Infrastructure, Enterprise Development, Farming system/Crop Development, Fisheries/Aquaculture, Coastal Institutions and Policy, Geographic Improvement, Alternative Energy, Hydro-geologist, Oilseed Crops, Marine Fisheries, and Mangroves Development.
The PDWP also approved setting up of a Steering Committee, to be headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Planning and Development) Ghulam Sarwar Khero, with Director-General of Coastal Development Authority Munawwar Opel as its secretary.
The other members are secretaries of Planning and Development, Finance, Forest and Wildlife, Works and Services, Fisheries and Livestock, Culture and Tourism, Local Government, Public Health, Irrigation and Power, Agriculture and Environment & Alternate Energy, as well as DCOs of Karachi, Thatta and Badin.
In the light of PPTA study, schemes will be prepared for economic enhancement of the inhabitants of the three designated coastal districts for which the ADB has allocated $50 million for the year 2006.—APP
