ISLAMABAD: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has sought financial and technical assistance from the World Bank for launching mega projects and infrastructure development in Karachi.
The chief minister visited the World Bank resident mission here on Wednesday and discussed development projects of Karachi with World Bank Country Director Illango Pathcamuthu.
He said the Sindh government needed the World Bank’s financial and technical assistance for implementation of the projects and asked Mr Pathcamuthu to send a team to Karachi to discuss the projects with the Sindh government so that the government could formalise a request for assistance.
Murad discusses with Asif permission for Sindh Transmission and Despatch Company’s grid connectivity
A spokesperson for the chief minister said the World Bank official assured Mr Shah that the proposals would be considered on a priority basis.
The chief minister also discussed rehabilitation of the Sukkur barrage and canal lining projects with Mr Pathcamuthu.
He said the development portfolio of the World Bank in Sindh was worth $1.14 billion and covered education, health, irrigation, agriculture, skill development and other sectors.
Presently, two World Bank-sponsored projects in the education sector — $400 million education reforms programme and $66m special grant for missing facilities — are being implemented in the province.
The chief minister told Mr Pathcamuthu that Sindh’s desire for development had brought him to the World Bank country office. He acknowledged that the bank had played an important role in the development of the education, health, agriculture and infrastructure sectors in the province.
Mr Shah held separate meetings with federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and federal Water and Power Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif.
He discussed issues related to the National Finance Commission award with Mr Dar and outstanding issues between the provincial government and the water and power ministry with Mr Asif.
Talking to journalists later, Mr Shah thanked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for directing Mr Asif to resolve the pending issues of his ministry pertaining to the Sindh government. “Today’s meeting was held as a follow-up to a meeting with the prime minister,” he said.
The chief minister said the Sindh government and the water and power ministry were close to settling the issue of power dues. “There remains a minor difference between the claim of the ministry and the amount offered by the provincial government,” he said, adding that the reconciliation of the amount had almost been decided. Mr Asif endorsed the chief minister’s statement.
