Sindh Local Government Minister, Saeed Ghani, has said that he will soon visit the sites of 136 ongoing development schemes being constructed by the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) in all districts of Karachi to personally inspect these projects and review their pace of completion.
The Local Government Minister made this announcement while chairing a meeting at the KDA on Wednesday. The Local Government Minister asked the KDA officials to expeditiously complete all under-construction development schemes aimed at improving the flow of vehicular traffic and upgrading the road network in Karachi to extend maximum relief to the motorists. He also directed the KDA officials to get support from the Traffic Engineering Bureau to build schemes to improve the flow of vehicular traffic going to and coming from the city.
He said the KDA officials should also consult the Law Department to resolve any legal issues in the ongoing development schemes in the city. He said the Sindh government would ensure the speedy release of funds for 77 ongoing development schemes in Karachi, which were supposed to be completed in the ongoing financial year.
The Local Government Minister was briefed by the KDA officials that 51 development schemes in the city were likely to be completed by the next financial year. Legal issues have been hindering the progress of eight uplift projects in the city.
The participants of the meeting were informed that apart from five main development schemes in the city, there were 29 ongoing uplift projects in District Central, 19 in District East, six in District Keamari, 50 in District Malir, while nine development projects were being completed each in districts Korangi, South and West of the city. A total of 63 per cent of funds, having an accumulative amount of Rs 7442.930 million, have been released for these schemes.
The Local Government Minister directed the Director General of KDA to submit to him a comprehensive report on the ongoing development schemes in the city in seven days so that he could inspect their sites after Eidul Fitr holidays. He directed the officials concerned to ensure the earliest completion of the ongoing development projects in Karachi, as delay in this regard wouldn’t be tolerated by him to serve the public interest in the best possible manner. Ghani said that a report should be compiled and sent to the Law Department on the legal issues pertaining to the ongoing development schemes, as he would contact the relevant departments to sort out these matters.
He directed the KDA officials to get assistance from the Traffic Engineering Bureau to improve vehicular traffic and road networks in the city, including the system of traffic signals. The meeting was attended by Additional Sindh Chief Secretary of Local Government Department Syed Khalid Hyder Shah, Special Secretary for Housing and Town Planning Bux Ali Mahar, KDA DG Altaf Gohar, Special Secretary Technical Ghani Sheikh, and other officials.
