KARACHI: Rs4bn coastal development projects in Sindh planned
KARACHI, Nov 29: The Asian Development Bank and the World Bank will fund various projects worth US$63.5 million (Rs4.01 billion) that would be initiated through the ‘Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan’ in 2006 in the coastal areas of Sindh.
This was stated by the Sindh Planning and Development Minister, Syed Shoaib Ahmed Bukhari, while chairing a workshop of the ADB “Sindh Coastal and Inland Community Development Project” on Tuesday. The workshop was organised by the Sindh Coastal Development Authority.
Mr Bukhari emphasised a greater role for the SCDA and said it would soon be equipped with expertise in the fields of land management, hydrogeology, alternate energy, aquaculture, disaster management, agriculture, environment and natural coastal fisheries and resources management for strong monitoring and evaluation of all development activities in coastal zone of Thatta and Badin districts.
He also urged the workshop’s participants to give their best in the preparation of immediately executable doable projects and for income-generating projects so that economic elevation occurred.
He also said that funds should be provided to the needy and talented members of coastal communities while ensuring swift and professional modalities of recovery.
The minister was of the view that women-folk should be preferably considered as they were good and reliable clientele. While doing this for the ‘poorest of poor’, he opined that three models of Bangladesh like the Grameen Bank, BRAC and PKSF should be studied.
He called for seriously studying the economic viability of plantation of oil palm, coconut and salicornia, as he believed that 500,000 acres area under oil palm would yield Rs35 billion per year after maturity.
He was optimistic that a green revolution could be brought in the coastal areas of Sindh through the study.
Mr Bukhari hoped that the SCICDP would be a workable and executable document and would not land up in archives. It should be clear, authentic and encompass elements of ‘how to go about’ in minimising, if not eliminating poverty, in the province’s coastal zones. “Give us something to boast about and bring economic development in this region,” he remarked.
He appreciated the efforts of the ADB consultants and in particular the good work by Munawar Opel, DG Coastal Development Authority (CDA), who had secured success against all odds. Mr Bukhari assured Mr Opel of strong support for enhancing his corporate body’s logistics and manpower requirements.
The Additional Chief Secretary (Dev), Ghulam Sarwar Khero, informed that the Rs48.689 million SCICDP comprising an ADB share (grant) of Rs38.81 million and the Sindh government’s share of Rs9.808 million would culminate in the injection of US$50 million by the ADB and US$13.5 million by the WB ostensibly in 2006.
He further said the study’s purpose was to identify and prepare realistic and income-oriented projects in various segments of economy for improving and uplifting socio-economic conditions of the coastal communities of Karachi, Thatta and Badin districts.
The DG CDA, Munawar Opel, said the ADP funding of US$50 million as per the government’s resolve would involve projects of policy and institution, community development, gender development, farming system/crop development, fisheries/aquaculture coastal institution and policy, geographic improvement, alternate energy, hydrogeology, oilseed crops, marine fisheries, and mangrove development.
He said the WB had shown interest in the coastal areas of Sindh and was pumping in with a US$13.5 million project “Supporting Vulnerable Communities in Thatta and Badin districts of Sindh” having three components namely the Community Investment Fund (CIF) - $10 million; Mangroves Rehabilitation and Ecosystem Management - $2 million; and, Project Management and Monitoring and Evaluation - $1.5 million.
It was most likely to deal with social sector development activities, he said, adding that it would be ensured that projects of the ADB and the WB would not have any element of duplication.
The ADB team leader, Simon Tiller, said the ADB study was closely working on a proposal for establishing a small monetary fund of US$10 million for 10 talukas of Thatta and Badin districts.
This amount would be spent on small doable community welfare projects with the cooperation of NGOs, district governments and community welfare bodies from profit accruing on investments in DFIs. “It will be ensured that there is transparency and money is wisely spent,” he said.
The ADB’s Natural Resources Management Specialist, Ms Vidhisha Samarasekara, outlined the SCICDP’s main features and opined that the ADB would financially support all projects recommend by the ADB consultants.
The ADB consultants also gave separate briefings to participants about specialised subjects.—PPI
