KARACHI  -  Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah met with Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Emma Fan to discuss a $1.3 billion development portfolio.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister highlighted his government’s development priorities and explored opportunities to enhance collaboration between the ADB and the provincial government.

According to spokesman, the meeting held at CM House and attended by Chairman P&D Najam Shah and Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh. The ADB Deputy Country Director Asad Aleem also present in the meeting along with his Country Director.  

The CM and the ADB Country head discussed the BRT Red Line and agreed to speed up the ongoing work on the corridor.

Shah said that the BRT Red Line project will contribute to developing a sustainable urban transport system in Karachi through the delivery of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor, focusing on accessibility and people’s mobility needs. He added that to improve the quality of public transport in Karachi by constricting the 26.6 km corridor and associated facilities, directly benefiting 1.5 million people.

Murad said that the project was Pakistan’s first BRT operating on Bio-methane from cattle waste, improving the city’s environment and financial sustainability. It was pointed out that the physical progress of Lot -I was 18.37 per cent, and Lot II 16.06 per cent.  Shah and Ms Fan also discussed the Sindh Secondary Education Improvement Project (SSEIP), designed for the construction of 160 secondary school blocks in existing primary schools across 10 districts of the province to bridge the gap between primary and post-primary education.

The project also aimed to improve teaching capacity in five key subjects (English, mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics) and strengthen the secondary education examination system through an Optical Mark Reader (OMR) machine to enhance the quality of secondary education. It is a Rs13.1 billion project.

Discussing the physical progress of the project, the meeting was informed that all civil works contracts for 117 schools had been awarded (Dec ‘23 – Apr - May ‘24), and construction is underway.

The CM stated that training for 2,630 teachers has been planned for early Dec 2024. He added that the training manuals completed examination reforms, SLO-based examinations, workshops for 400 examiners/paper setters in 5 key subjects were completed, and delivery of OMR equipment was accomplished.

Another project the CM and ADB country chief discussed was the Emergency Flood Assistance Project (EFAP). Under EFAP, September 2022’s flood/rain-affected roads are being taken up for improvement/rehabilitation in 18 districts of the province. These roads would facilitate the affected people of numerous villages and towns of their access to markets, educational centres, health facilities etc. The CM said that Special Design Techniques are adopted to make them climate resilient. Therefore, the project supports rehabilitating the flood/Rain damaged roads with the best possible measures. It is a Rs48.4 billion project.

CM said the construction activities on all 17 awarded road packages are being carried out. He added that currently, most of the road packages are at the Water Bound Macadam (WBM) stage.

Shah said that fortnightly meetings are being held with the Project Management Consultants (PMC) and Contractors to expedite the physical activities, ensuring that the quality and quantities are achieved as per specifications and timelines. He added that as per the TORs of PMC, the RAMS setup is being established at the Office of the Project Director, EFAP, Hyderabad and accordingly, the working on the upgradation of RAMS data would be initiated.

Discussing the Sindh Flood Emergency Housing Reconstruction Project, the CM said that the ADB financing was supporting the beneficiary-driven reconstruction of at least 250,000 multi-hazard resilient houses. “It will also support community-led construction of multi-hazard resilient and

environment-responsive infrastructure, such as WASH/toilet facilities for at least 100,000 houses. Approximately 1,500,000 and 600,000 people will benefit from the reconstruction of housing and improved community infrastructure, respectively,” he said.

The ADB country chief also assured the chief minister that the Bank would support the provincial government in the establishment of TP4. The CM directed Chairman P&D Najam Shah to provide the necessary paperwork to the ADB country head within the next week.

The CM and the ADB country director agreed to conduct infrastructural gaps of Hyderabad to ascertain requirements in the road network, drainage, water supply, flyover and underpasses. Once the study was conducted proper projects would be developed to cover the gaps.