HYDERABAD, Feb 10: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad has said a project director and a consultant will soon be appointed for execution of the Hyderabad Development Package.

Talking to journalists after presiding over a meeting regarding the package at the circuit house here on Thursday, he said it was due to poor civic infrastructure of Hyderabad that the president had announced the Rs10.5 billion package but now the cost of development schemes under the project had been revised to Rs14 billion.

He said DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed would continue officiating as the acting project director for the time being to avoid delay in execution of the package. He said the process of appointing a permanent consultant and a project director had almost been completed.

Dr Ibad stressed the need for close coordination among different departments, including civic agencies, so that people could be provided with basic amenities.

He said the purpose of his visit to Hyderabad was to supervise ongoing development works in the city and see whether departments were coordinating with each other.

He said sewerage and water supply were two important areas which would be given proper attention under the development package.

About formation of a city district government and bifurcation of Hyderabad, he said no final decision had been taken as yet but added that such administrative bifurcations had taken place in the past to ensure smooth delivery of services to people. However, he made it clear that the district would not be divided on political or ethnic lines and any decision in this respect would be taken in the interest of people after due consultation.

Answering a question about utilization of funds after the proposed bifurcation of the district, he said no area would be neglected under any circumstances.

He expressed satisfaction over the law and order situation in Sindh, especially in Karachi, and claimed that responsiveness of law-enforcement agencies and police had been significant over the past several years. He further claimed that not a single case of kidnapping was pending today and judges kidnapped in Shikarpur had been recovered.

The governor observed that holding of the Expo 2005 was reflective of the fact that foreign investment was pouring in and investors were expressing confidence in the prevailing peaceful conditions in Karachi. Around 1,000 foreigners visited the exhibition, he added.

Earlier, he told the meeting that work on schemes under the package had been delayed.

He appreciated efforts of the district nazim and elected representatives for identifying development schemes and asked officers to ensure early execution of the package.

Referring to the Karachi Port Trust's help in execution of the Karachi package, the governor sought cooperation of other organisations to ensure implementation of the Hyderabad package. He asked the district nazim and the DCO to submit him a list of such federal government organizations to seek their cooperation.

The additional chief secretary, local government, Saleem Khan, called for submission of PC-II of the project schemes to save time for preparation of PC-I and its subsequent approval.