KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has regretted the federal government’s move of excluding some important projects, including Karachi water supply and sewerage projects K-4, S-3, Karachi circular railway, Lyari Expressway and Thar coal projects, from the proposed Rs525 billion PSDP 2014-15.

The chief minister disclosed during a visit to the PPP Media Centre in Clifton on Friday after returning from Islamabad where he attended meetings of the Council of Common Interests and Ecnec that he came to know during the meetings that the federal government had excluded Sindh’s 11 out of 45 projects which were suggested for inclusion in the coming budget.

He said the projects were dropped unilaterally without consulting the province and listening to its point of view. “The people of Karachi and the interior of the province are not happy with the federal government over its attitude,” he said.

He said that everyone claimed that “Karachi is ours” but their words did not match their action. Had the projects been included in the PSDP it could at least have resolved the city’s water supply and sewerage issues, he said.

The chief minister said the other projects dropped from the PSDP pertained to interior of the province, dealing a blow to development in both urban and rural areas.

Mr Shah said that Federal Railway Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique had committed to reviving the Karachi circular railway. On his part, the chief minister said, he had accomplished the task of removing encroachments from the railway tracks and thus fulfilled his part of the bargain but was still waiting for the centre’s initiative.

The total allocation of the PSDP was Rs525 billion which should be given to the provinces according to the NFC award formula, he said, adding that he had even suggested that Sindh was not asking for full allocation but at least part of it to initiate work on the projects instead of dropping them completely.

The way the prime minister took notice of law and order situation of the province he should show similar zeal for the development of Sindh, he said.

The chief minister clarified that he was not criticising the prime minister but “we would like to inform him that we feel neglected and want that we should be given our share for the betterment of the country and the province.”

However, he assured the people, that soon Karachi would have a rapid bus service. But it was not enough as the Sindh government was making efforts to use all its resources to raise standard of life of people living in rural and urban areas.

In reply to a question, Mr Shah said that Sindh was prepared to clear electricity dues but on the basis of actual power consumption not according to the meter readers’ estimates.

Mr Shah praised PPP media cell in-charge Senator Saeed Ghani for equipping the cell with modern media gadgets. PPP senior leaders Waqar Mehdi, Najmi Alam, Rashid Rabbani, Habibuddin Junedi, Latif Moghal, Zulfikar Qaimkhani and Manzoor Abbas were also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, May 31th, 2014