KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan unveiled a hefty Rs.162 billion package to transform Pakistan’s southern mega port-city of Karachi through development of its transport, water and sewage infrastructures, at a meeting at the Sindh Governor House on Saturday.
Khan said the package would include 18 projects with 10 related to public transport and seven focusing on water and sewage.
“Although the development of Karachi is the responsibility of the provincial government of Sindh, it has done nothing for the city,” Khan said, and added that despite receiving its full share of revenue, Sindh’s ruling elite had displayed a lack of concern towards the city’s development.
The infrastructural development of Karachi was part of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s [PTI] election manifesto in the last general elections with promises that Karachi, a city of 15 million people, would become Pakistan’s “urban crown jewel.” Following this, the PTI emerged as the second largest party in the province.
But a minister of Sindh province’s ruling Pakistan People’s Party, Saeed Ghani, said he remained skeptical that the federal government would actually release the funds mentioned in the Prime Minister’s package.
“We will be happy to see this plan materialize,” he told Arab News. “But ground realities suggest otherwise.”
“The [federal] center is yet to pay Rs.120 billion to Sindh from the national divisible pool,” he said and expressed concerns that the government’s huge budget deficit might make its promised fund allocation questionable.
However, Khurrum Sher Zaman, a PTI leader in the Sindh Assembly said the Karachi package was the fulfillment of his party’s election promises.
“We cannot afford to stop Karachi’s development,” he told Arab News. “The city is the engine of growth for our economy and feeds the entire country.”
At least one expert maintained the money alone could not resolve the city’s problems.
Arif Hasan, a Pakistani architect and urban planner, and recipient of one of the country’s highest civilian awards, said that funds while important, would not generate results without serious institutional reforms.
“General Pervez Musharraf gave Rs. 29 billion to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s city government, but the problems of the city remained unsolved,” Hasan told Arab News. “Several parts of the city were made signal-free and a few flyovers were also built, but core issues were not resolved.”
Hasan noted that the water scarcity issue, for example, could not be resolved without first restructuring and reforming the Karachi Water and Sewage Board.
But in answer to these concerns, PTI’s Zaman said the development package would be implemented through Karachi Infrastructure Development Company under the direct supervision of the Sindh Governor.
“We don’t need to rely on institutions that indulge in bad governance practices,” he said. “We have to deliver.”