Naimat Khan
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the provincial government with the support of private partners has developed some most important projects such as bridge on river Indus, power plant, coal mining and road and other projects.
“Now, public private partnership has assumed an important role in the development of Sindh and we are going to expand its scope for better services to the people of Sindh.”
This he said while presiding over Public Private Partnership Policy Board meeting here on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, Dr Sikandar Mendhro, Jam Mehtab Dahar, Sohail Anwar Siyal, Syed Sardar Shah, Syed Awais Shah, Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon, Chairman P&D Mohammad Waseem, Principal Secretary Sohail Rajput and other members of the board.
The board discussed different projects to launch under public private partnership (PPP) mode. Enhancing PPP (provincial Support) project: Under the proposal the creation of a company `PPP project support facility’ (PSF) would be created to independently manage the viability gap fund (VGF) for achieving better value and improving risk management of VGF. There was a proposal to approve Rs550 million for the fund as per agreement with Asian Development Bank (ADB). The policy board approved both the proposal.
Another project of Motor Vehicle Inspection Project (MVI) came under discussion. The project was approved in January 2015 for MVI and Certification system. For the project Transport & Mass Transit Department (TMTD) received only two bids and awarded the contract company to start the project. The policy board approved post facto approval for awarding work to a private firm.
The policy board approved selection of ban for yellow Line project. Under the project the TMTD launched BRT System – yellow line project to design, build, finance, maintain and transfer of more than 26 km of coordior from Dawood Chowrangi to Numaish and Regal Chowk via 8000 Road, Korangi road and FTC under PPP mode. Under the project there would be 69 percent debt, 16 percent concessionaire equity and 15 Sindh government share. The finance department requested the PPP policy board to accord approval for engaging the selected bank and proceeding for financial close. The board approved the proposal.
The policy board also considered the unsolicited proposal received rom Behria Twon for launching BRT Blue Line project. The Blue Line project is 11.8 km from Gurumandir via Teen Hati, Dakkhana, Liaquatabad No. 10, karimabad, Aysha Manzil, Water Pump, Yousif Plaza, Sohrab Goth to Al-Asif Square. The policy board approved to take up the project under PPP mode of procurement of investors solicitation.
The board was told that a private firm, EcoBus has given an unsolicited proposal for operating electric air-conditioned buses for plying on all possible public transport routes within the city. The firm has offered to import 50-0 buses in the first phase. The chief minister directed the transport department to send the proposal to the technical committee and seek their recommendations. Once the recommendations are received the project may be brought into the policy board for necessary action.
Another proposal for establishment of Modern vegetable, fruit, fish and meat Market in Khairpur came under discussion. It was pointed out in the meeting that Khairpur has a vast and most modern Special Economic Zone, therefore the market may be constructed in another district headquarter. The chief minister directed agriculture department to work out proposal and submit in the next PPP policy board meeting.
The Solar Dates Dehydration project was also discussed. The meeting was told that Khairpur district is famous for its date palm cultivation. Due to highly favorable agro-climatic geographical and geological conditions Khairpur produces almost 300 verities of dates. Pakistan produces 700,000 tones of dates and etches $18.450 million and the Khairpur is one of the major contributors.
It was pointed out that the existing post-harvest technology i.e dryers, dehydrators and other processing technologies are inadequate, outdated and result in substantial loss of dates in terms of quality and quantity. They proposed development of solar dryers would help in drying a variety of dates under a controlled environment at relatively lower cost. The board approved the proposal for hiring a consultant.
The meeting also discussed establishment of Dry Land farming research Institute Mithi for which the policy board proposed to connect it with any university.
Another important project which came under discussion was Lab-e-Mehran Tourism Development Project Sukkur. The meeting was told that Sukkur was the third largest city located along the Indus River. The city has a gifted advantage for having a long river front with the river Indus> however, the development of river front has long been neglected, turning it into a dumping ground affecting the life of local population and marine life.
The meeting was proposed that appropriate development of river front can turn into a major asset for the city which can improve quality of environment and life in Sukkur. The policy board approved the proposal and directed concerned department (culture & Tourism) to hire a consultant for the purpose.
The Education Management Organization (EMOs) project was given approval for funding and project development by PPP policy board in 2014. The first phase of awarding the contract of EMOs project was held in 2015 whereby management of four schools was handed over to the private partners. The second phase of contract awarding was launched in 2014 for handing over five more schools and now 13 organizations have submitted bids for 14 schools. The policy board approved the proposal to hand over the management of 14 schools to private partners.
