KARACHI: Provincial ministers Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and Jam Ikramullah Dharejo have laid the foundation stone for the construction of 17 roads in the SITE area at a cost of Rs1,039.73 million, says a handout issued here on Sunday.

The SITE Association patron-in-chief Zubair Motiwala and PPP leaders including MNA Qadir Mandokhel, MPA Liaquat Askani and former MPA Nadeem Bhutto, as well as Karachi Water and Sewerage Board managing director Assadullah Khan were also present.

Addressing the foundation laying ceremony, Sindh Minister for Information and Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that with the laying of the foundation stone, a long-standing demand of industrialists and local PPP leaders had been fulfilled.

He said Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had also visited this area and assured the industrialists of completing the projects.

The minister said that 17 roads with a total length of 25 kilometres would be completed in the project that included two drains.

Nasir Shah held out the assurance that all issues of industrial areas would be resolved on a priority basis.

He said that infrastructure of the area would improve with the completion of this project and industries would flourish. This would strengthen the national economy and create job opportunities as well, he added.

Mr Shah told the audience that Rs100bn had been earmarked for development projects of Karachi in the fiscal year 2021-22, while Rs900bn projects were already under way in the city with the cooperation of World Bank, Asian Development Bank and others donor agencies.

He offered sub-soil water licences to industrialists and said that the Sindh government was ready to issue as many licences as required by industrialists so that the issue of water availability to industries was resolved.

Provincial Minister for Industries and Commerce Jam Ikramullah Dharejo said that in the past, those who ruled over Karachi left the city with nothing but extortion, Kalashnikov culture and destruction.

He said he was grateful to PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah for allocating Rs1bn for the improvement of infrastructure in industrial zones in view of the problems of industrialists. With the these funds, works were being carried out on 17 development projects which would hopefully be completed within the current financial year.

He said the Sindh government had also provided additional Rs300m for development projects for completion of some other projects.

Mr Dharejo said that due to incompetence and poor policies of the federal government, industries had suffered a lot and unemployment had increased. He sought cooperation of industrialists in Sindh government’s development projects.

Earlier, Mr Motiwala told the audience that not only industrialists, but the common man and labourers would benefit from this project. A committee comprising two members from the SITE Association and two from the government side had been constituted to monitor progress of the projects in the area.

He appreciated that one project had already been completed and the foundation stone of another one pertaining 17 roads had now been laid.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2021