January 28, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 27, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 27: Various mega development projects initiated by the city government in the fiscal year 2005-06 will either be abandoned or delayed following a reduction of Rs7 billion in the Tameer-i-Karachi Programme (TKP).

Some stakeholders have refused to provide their earlier pledged share to the city government under the said programme, well-placed sources said on Friday.

The TKP worth Rs29 billion had been announced by President Pervez Musharraf on the request of former City Nazim, Niamatullah Khan, in 2003 binding federally administered corporations operating in Karachi to contribute their shares to the city’s development.

However, contrary to their pledges, some of the stakeholders have refused to provide their share without any legitimate reason, city government sources said.

The city government has so far not evolved any alternative strategy to initiate the much-needed development projects to be affected by the reduction of Rs7 billion, the sources said.

On being contacted, the city government officials failed to provide details of the projects, which could be delayed and abandoned by the withdrawal of the pledged amount under the TKP.

The officials even refused to disclose the names of the stakeholders that had withdrawn their pledged share, saying they were forbidden by top city government authorities from doing so.

Since the initiation of the TKP, except for the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) and the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), none of the other stakeholders had so far contributed anything significant to the city’s development.

Some 15 stakeholders that had pledged to provide financial assistance to the city government for its various development projects include the Karachi Port Trust (KPT), Pakistan Railways (PR), Export Processing Zone (EPZ), Port Qasim Authority (PQA), Ministry of Works (MW), Pakistan Steel (PS), Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Military Land and Cantonments (MLC), Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), National Logistic Cell (NLC), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other banks, SITE Association (SITEA), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), and the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

The city government has divided the metropolis into six zones under the TKP.

Zone-1 includes Bin Qasim, Gaddap and Landhi towns. For this zone, the PSM, PQA and EPZ had promised a total contribution of Rs1,630 million for seven major development projects. These projects included dualization of link road connecting National and Super highways at an estimated cost of Rs200 million, flyover at Quaidabad T-Junction for Rs80 million, coastal road from Port Qasim to PRL via Ibrahim Hyderi for Rs200 million, solid waste management for Rs1,100 million, and balance work on Mehran Highway for Rs50 million.

Zone-2 comprises Malir, Shah Faisal and Gulshan-i-Iqbal towns. For this zone, the CAA, PIA, MLC and the NLC had pledged Rs1,950 million for five development projects.

These projects include construction of the Dhabeji power plant for Rs650 million, construction of main road in Malir for Rs300 million, construction of farm to market roads for Rs200 million, Malir River Bridge form Faisal Colony for Rs500 million, and rehabilitation of University Road for Rs300 million.

Zone-3 includes the SITE, Orangi, Baldia, Gulberg, Liaquatabad, North Nazimabad, and North Karachi towns. The SITE Association and Pakistan Railways are supposed to contribute Rs2,000 million for initiation of four major development projects in the respective areas.

These projects include rehabilitation of Shahrah-i-Pakistan for Rs600 million, rehabilitation of Shahrah-i-Orangi for Rs500 million, development of municipal landfill site for Rs400 million and construction of sewage treatment plant for Rs500 million.

Zone-4 consists of Korangi, Saddar, Jamshed, Lyari and Keamari towns. The development jobs in respective towns has been assigned to the KPT, oil companies, the SBP and other banks totalling Rs4,790 million.

These projects include the bridge on Malir River at Korangi Road for Rs300 million), flyover at Hino Chowk for Rs200 million, development of Shahrah-i-Ghalib for Rs450 million, emergency response centres for Rs200 million, rehabilitation of the II Chundrigar, MA Jinnah and MT Khan roads for Rs540 million, procurement of equipment and machinery for Rs1,000 million, desalination plant for Rs900 million, and rehabilitation of the Malir and Lyari rivers for Rs1,200 million.

Zone-5 comprises the Industrial State of Korangi, Landhi, FB Area and North Karachi.

The EPB is working on two development projects here; rehabilitation of sewerage water and roads infrastructure at a cost of Rs1,000 million; and installation of treatment plants for industrial areas at a cost of Rs1,500 million.

Zone-6 includes the overall projects in the city for which the federal, Sindh and city governments will share Rs16,795 million.—Online