December 04, 2008	Thursday	Zilhaj 5, 1429

HYDERABAD, Dec 3: Sindh irrigation minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that SIDA must activate itself and added that in furtherance of this objective, strong coordination between SIDA and the irrigation department was indispensable.

He was talking to SIDA officials after receiving a briefing from Managing Director SIDA, Ghulam Abbas Leghari, here on Wednesday.

Mr Shah, who is also the chairman of SIDA, said that a joint meeting of SIDA and irrigation department should be held without delay to sort out differences between the two organisations.

He said it was necessary to complete the strength of the board of governors of SIDA which has now 16 members and is short of five members.

He directed that a meeting of the board of governors should be convened on December 20, to discuss important issues.

In his briefing, Managing Director SIDA said that it was working on two important projects namely Sindh Onfarm Water Management and Water Sector Improvement projects.

He said these projects will be completed by 2012 for which an amount of 250 million dollars had been earmarked.

He said SIDA had conducted elections of three area water boards and 346 abadgars welfare organisations.

General Managers of different departments of SIDA, including professor Aijaz Qureshi, Dr Mumtaz Suhag, Dr Salam Memon, Anwar Memon, Maula Bux and Nazeer Memon were also present on the occasion who briefed the minister about the progress of their departments.