THATTA: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said the federal government has approved inclusion of the projects of Keti Bundar port and Karachi Circular Railway in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Talking to journalists during a stopover in Thatta en route to Karachi, the chief minister said the issue would be finalised at a meeting on CPEC to be held in Beijing on Dec 29. The chief minister was returning from Thar.

He said at the newly-constructed Thatta-Sujawal bridge on Indus river which he visited without prior information that the Rs3 billion bridge constructed parallel to the old one would greatly help overcome traffic problems.

About Sindh’s readiness for census, he said that it was necessary for the province as well and his government was ready to start the process and coordinate with the federal government in this regard.

Mr Shah said that after completion of the construction of dual carriageway from Karachi to Thatta, the next phase of the road from Thatta to Hyderabad would be started next year.

He said that special packages were being prepared for the development of Thatta and Sujawal.

Opening ceremony of the newly-constructed Doolaha Darya Khan bridge would be held next week, he said.

The chief minister ordered his convoy to halt on the outskirts of Makli at a toll tax post on the National Highway and after personally interrogating the staff posted there he reached the conclusion that the post had been set up by Thatta works services department to fleece motorists and commuters with the help of thugs.

The chief minister, therefore, ordered to immediately bulldoze the illegal toll tax post.

Published in Dawn December 8th, 2016