*KARACHI – Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and 11-member WorldBank high-level delegation led by its Country Director PatchamuthuIllangovan on Tuesday discussed over $10 billion projects.*

The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, Saeed Ghani, Ismail Rahu,Syed Sardar Shah, Imtiaz Shaikh, Advisor to CM on Law Murtaza Wahab, ChiefSecretary Mumtaz Shah and the relevant provincial secretaries.

Murad Ali Shah said he was working for reforming governance, economicgrowth, sustainable development and human capital development.

“I am committed to achieve these goals through accountability to the coreof government, encouragement of economic growth, liberalization andmodernization of agriculture sector and strengthen population managementand early childhood development,” he said.

Karachi Neighbourhood Improvement project is a $86 project and theprovincial government has to put in $14 million to start the project.

The three other projects, Karachi Urban Management, a $200 m project,Karachi Urban Mobility, a $400 million project, and Karachi Water andSewerage, a $640 million project, also came under discussion. These threeprojects needed some provincial government approvals and finalisation ofinvestment plan to start the project.

KUM project : The World Bank has proposed $200 million for Karachi UrbanManagement project . The chief minister said that the objective of theproject was to enhance urban management service delivery of KMC and DMCs.

The proposal was to provide performance-linked block grants to six districtmunicipal corporations (DMCs) and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC)for local level infrastructure and municipal services. A capitaldevelopment grant was proposed for KMC for flood management andrehabilitation of urban drainage infrastructure.

The institutional development and capacity building of KMC and DMCs wasalso discussed. On this the chief minister said that he had alreadyannounced to hand over recovery of property tax to the KMC and DMCs.

The chief minister directed Chairman P&D Mohammad Waseem to call a jointmeeting of local bodies and secretary local government to finalise the KUMproject so that necessary recommendation could be firmed up for finalapproval.

The meeting also decided to conduct fresh property survey in the city ofKarachi ad then in the other districts.

KUM project: The WB proposed $400 million for Karachi Urban Mobility (KUM).The project is aimed at improving urban mobility, accessibility and roadsafety in Karachi. Under the project the World Bank would construct YellowLine corridor, including development of infrastructure rehabilitation andBRTs construction system.

Chairman P&D Mohammad Waseem said that under the project road safety wouldbe increased via infrastructure, crash data system and improvingenforcement and awareness. Capacity building of Sindh Mass TransitAuthority staff and KMC would also be made and study for other corridorswould be conducted.

The chief minister approved the project and directed the chairman P&D andthe secretary transport to move forward with the project by completing allthe required formalities and also send the concept paper to EconomicAffairs Division.

KSSI Project: The World Bank has proposed $1.6 billion. Murad Ali Shahtalking about the project said that it was aimed at supporting KarachiWater and Sewerage Board (KW&SB) to deliver safe and reliable water andsewerage services and encouraging private sector investments water supplyand waste water treatment.

Under the project there would be institutional reforms in the KW&SB whichinclude reforms in customer service, HR, operational capacity, billing andcollection etc. Through the project 10 katchi abadis (slum areas) wouldalso be provided water. The chief minister directed P&D, local governmentto go ahead with the proposal.

SHC programme: This programme is aimed at improving delivery andutilization of health, nutrition, population, education and socialprotection services to support women and girls to invest in human capitalin targeted areas. The World Bank has proposed $400 million for theprogramme. Under the programme skill and employment training, secondary andsecond chance education, early childhood development interventions wouldalso be made. The chief minister directed chairman P&D to hold separatemeeting with the concerned departments and make final recommendations.

SW&T and CR: The goal of Sindh Water & Agriculture Transformation andClimate Resilience project has transformed water management and agricultureproduction towards higher levels of water productivity and improve climateresilience. The WB has proposed $300 million and the provincialgovernment’s share would be $150 million.

The Sindh CM said that under project rehabilitation of canal system on theright of Dadu and Rice Canal and on the left bank of Akram Wah, GhotkiFeeder and Fulleli system would be made. He also added that under theproject advanced irrigation reforms have been proposed and masterplans formonitoring system of right bank barrages would also be evolved.

The chief minister directed P&D and Irrigation department to finalise thedraft irrigation management strategy so that the project could be taken up.

TRFS: The World Bank has proposed Rs150 million for Transformation andRevitalisation of the Fisheries Sectors (TRFS). The chief minister saidthat the goal of the project was to transform and revitalize fisheries andaquaculture by improving management, competitiveness and community.

The project would introduce sustainable management systems, includingspatial planning, vessel registration and licensing and data management.The chief minister said that under the project private sector participationwould be incentivized and would build value chains. He added that theproject also aimed at improving nutritional food security and livelihoodsfor women and families and strengthening institutions.

SJ&C Project: The World Bank has proposed $400 million for Sindh Jobs andCompetitiveness (SJ&C) project. The chief minister said that this projectwas aimed at improving business environment and economic competitiveness togenerate new investment and employment opportunities.

Under this project investment climate and doing business indicators wouldbe developed.

The chief minister and the World Bank country chief and his team discussedeach and every project at length and finally decided to take them up atPlanning & development Department level to complete their formalities sothat they could be cleared from the local forms and for final approval ofWorld Bank.

The World Bank Pakistan chief Patchamuthu Illangovan told the meeting thathis bank was ready to further enhance and strengthen their partnership withthe provincial government.