KARACHI, May 3: The Sindh government on Saturday approved the “Sindh Cities Improvement Programme (SCIP)” aimed at improving the quality of life and introducing infrastructure reforms to bring the urban centres at par with the modern cities of the world.

Approving the programme, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah issued directive for the establishment of the Sindh Urban Services Corporation under the Companies Ordinance-1984. He also directed the officials concerned to work out development projects for other cities, including those falling in the central and southern parts of Sindh.

Mr Shah called for curtailing the timeframe for the completion of the programme so that people could benefit from it and start getting modern facilities as soon as possible.

Earlier, the chief minister was briefed about the programme by additional chief secretary (planning and development) Nazar Hussain Maher here on Saturday.

He was informed that the $300 million programme would be implemented with the cooperation of the Asian Development Bank. He was also briefed about other ADB-funded projects.

Mr Maher told him that the SCIP would be launched under the taluka municipal administrations. In the first phase, improvement of infrastructure would be undertaken in Sukkur, New Sukkur, Rohri, Shikarpur, Larkana and Khairpur, he added.

In order to improve the standard of living in these cities, modern civic facilities would be provided through the implementation of water and sewerage schemes whereas measures would taken for effective management of solid waste, the chief minister was told.

Mr Maher argued that spending billions of rupees on construction of building in cities could not bring improvement in the quality of citizens’ life because this could not help the government attain the targets of sustainable development.

He also expressed his disappointment over the performance of the public health engineering department, and observed that the department discharged its responsibility of only executing scheme. “It cannot be held responsible for the failure of any scheme as it is not supposed to operate or maintain the schemes it has executed,” he added.

He informed the chief minister that there were some 1,700 water supply and drainage schemes executed in various parts of the province but 700 of them appeared to be non-functional.

Mr Maher said that under the SCIP, a public utility service corporation, titled “Sindh Urban Services Corporation” would be set up to provide better basic facilities to urban centres.

Briefing the meeting about water supply & drainage, waste management, existing infrastructure and other related issues, Ms Cathey Julian, head of the ADB’s Cities Projects Team, told the meeting that the objective of funding the SCIP was to focus on addressing the issues of water supply, drainage and solid waste management issues in the cities of Sindh.

She stated that in the first phase of the project, certain projects would be completed with an investment of $30 million under the North Sindh Urban Services Corporation. Headquarter of the corporation would be in Sukkur, she added.

The chief minister appreciated the ADB’s cooperation in implementing its cities improvement programme, and noted that the people of Pakistan, disappointed by the performance of the previous government, were looking for sustainable development and people-friendly projects that could alleviate poverty, besides improving their quality of life and ensuring availability of basic amenities.

Sindh Minister for Local Government Agha Siraj Durrani and Chief Secretary Fazlur Rehman were among the other officials present in the meeting.—APP