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SINDH | Progress News & Updates

373K views 2K replies 136 participants last post by  RANA AAA 
#1 · (Edited)
Anything related to development ,news and updates of this province would be posted here.
 
#246 ·
Five metropolitan corporations notified: Karachi reverts to Musharraf-era police order

KARACHI, Sept 29: The provincial government on Saturday set in motion the process of installing the new local bodies structure by issuing a notification to implement the Sindh People’s Local Government Ordinance (SPLGO) 2012.

The new order carries almost the same features that were part of the model introduced by former president Pervez Musharraf in 2001. It also brought his brainchild Police Order of 2002 back into life, notifying restructuring of the key law-enforcement agency only in Karachi in an apparent move to win over a key ally – the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

They said the notifications made public on Saturday but issued late on Friday gave metropolitan corporations status to Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana and Mirpurkhas. The other 18 districts of the province would have district councils, they said.

“The metropolitan corporations would be headed by mayors and deputy mayors,” Sindh Local Government Secretary Fazlur Rahman said. “There would be a chairman of each district council.

“With the fresh notification, 18 town municipal administrations in Karachi have been restored.”

With the new order in place, he said, 1,108 union councils across the province had been restored.

The administrators in 18 Karachi towns were likely to be posted in a few days, he said.

However, he did not elaborate the fate of officers currently serving at different positions.

Seen as a source of an urban-rural divide by the nationalist and opposition parties, the SPLGO was promulgated by the governor earlier this month after days of talks between the PPP and the MQM.

The ordinance on one hand sent ripples among the nationalists mainly in rural Sindh and on the other led to a breakup between the PPP and some old allies in the province, including the Awami National Party (ANP) that parted ways with the government along with the Pakistan Muslim League-F, National People’s Party, PML-Q and its Likeminded faction.

Interestingly, they are keeping their partnership with the PPP intact at the centre.

The home department also issued a notification bringing the Karachi police’s organisational structure in consonance with the Police Order of 2002 that was repealed last year with the revival of the Sindh Police Act of 1861.

“The fresh notification is only for the Karachi police structure,” an official said. “The operations, functions and organisation of police in other parts of the province will remain the same as defined under the Sindh Police Act.”

He said Karachi police under the new arrangement had been divided into the east, south and west zones which would be headed by DIGs. The city will have 20 divisions like it had towns under the Police Order 2002, headed by five SSPs and 15 SPs.

Source
 
#247 ·
Qaim Ali Shah to lead an investment team to Turkey

KARACHI (PPI): Consul General of Turkey in a meeting with provincial finance minister at Sindh Board of Investment discussed roadmap for the exchange of investment delegation between Republic of Turkey and Government of Sindh.

An investment delegation headed by the Chief Minister Sindh and comprising of government officials and leading businessmen representing different sectors of economy are proposed to visit Republic of Turkey tentatively from 15-20th November 2012. The delegation is expected to organize an investment conference in Istanbul/Ankara followed by G2B and B2B meetings with public and private sector participants of the delegation.

Minister Finance Murad Ali Shah expressed gratitude on behalf of Sindh Government to Turkish Government for the help and support extended during the hours of need especially in the recent catastrophic floods in north and southern parts of country.

Discussing the salient features of the visit Chairman SBI explained that Delegation will showcase the unparalleled investment opportunities of Sindh Province and will present projects, which are necessary for uplifting the socio-economic condition of province. Main focus will be on the Infrastructure, Energy, Agriculture and Agro processing Projects. Idea of signing sister city agreement between Sindh and Turkey was also deliberated in detail.

Consul General of Turkey Mr. Murat Mustafa Onart said Turkish Government is looking forward to be a part of projects in Sindh and there is a huge investment potential which is immensely needed to be highlighted before the Turkish investors during the investment delegation visit.

He assured that all business association and chambers will be approached for full participation in the roadshow and conference. Mr.Onrat assured all out support to the Minister on behalf of Turkish Government for making visit fruitful for both countries.

Sources
 
#252 ·
World Bank to provide 300 million dollars for Sindh education



KARACHI: Senior Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq held a high level meeting with the delegation of World Bank mission in which the bank committed to support education is Sindh by providing US$ 300 million for next four years.

Dhushynth Raju of the WB mission appreciated Sindh Senior Minister’s efforts for Sindh Education Reforms Program (SERP) I. WB agreed to continue teachers’ recruitment, school specific budgets, management reforms and schools’ construction.

Haq highlighted the government’s efforts for education, establishment of STEDA, development of Geographical Information System (GIS) and other measures.

In response to the recommendation of WB team, the minister also issued immediate directives to align the reforms with government efforts.

The WB mission comprised Dhushynth Raju and Umbreen Arif, while Secretary Education Mukhtar Hussain Soomro, Special Secretary Education Sajjad Abbasi, Chief Program Manger RSU Parveez Seehar and Deputy Programme Manager Ghulam Nabi participated in the meeting on the design of Sindh Education Reform Program-II (SERP-II).

Online adds: Senior Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq has said that the youth of Pakistan must come forward and play their due role towards nation’s sustainability.

He was speaking to the convocation of Newports Institute of Communications and Economics (NICE).

He said that young and educated workforce is the key to national development. At the convocation ceremony, more than 500 students graduated in the disciplines of Business Administration, Computer Science, Fashion and Textile design. Four gold medals were awarded to students. The gold medals were sponsored by M/s Hilton Pharma, Deewan Group, FOAKH Group, and Abdullah Gardens.

Brig (r) Sadiq Jamal, Chairman NICE, recognised the hard work of the graduating students and the faculty. He advised students to play their positive role in the development of Pakistan.

Chief Executive Officer of Cupola Group of Companies Rafiq Rangoonwala was the key note speaker, who inspired the graduates by sharing his experiences and stressed the importance of an educated mind for a progressive nation.

Huma Bukhari, Rector NICE, praised the graduates for their endless efforts and wished them a better tomorrow. Mian Abrar Ahmed, Chairman Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and Sardar Yaseen Malik, Chairman of Hilton Pharma, were the guests of honour.

Mirza Raza Ali, Director Finance; Bushra Raza, Director Academics; Salman Jamal, Registrar; Fasihul Siddiqui, Member BoG, and Isma Zaighum, Manager Business Administration, also addressed the audience.

The convocation ceremony was attended by a large number of participants representing social, government and corporate sector.

Source
 
#253 ·
KMC seeks Rs700m for Zulfikarabad oil tankers’ terminal

Karachi

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has said it would ask the Sindh government for Rs700 million required for the construction of Phase-II of Zulfiqarabad Oil Tankers Terminal as Phase-I of the project would be completed in the next two months for proper parking of oil tankers at the site in the outskirts of the city.

During visit of the construction work of the oil tankers’ terminal on Thursday, KMC Administrator Muhammad Hussain Syed said that the construction of Zulfiqarabad Oil Tankers Terminal was an important project of Karachi which would be completed within the estimated time. Phase-I of this terminal was being completed at a cost of Rs313 million from which Rs156.77 million (50 percent) was being provided by the Sindh government.

Source
 
#259 ·
Qaim for early completion of Darawat Dam construction work

KARACHI - Sindh Chief Minister (CM), Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Monday presided over a high level meeting regarding Darawat Dam Project and distribution of land among landless haris at the CM House.

The meeting was attended by Board of Revenue Sindh senior member, Shahzar Shamoon, the Hyderabad Division Commissioner, Ahmed Bux Narejo, principal secretary to the CM, Agha Jan Akhtar, Sindh Irrigation Secretary, Babar Ali Effendi and others.

Speaking on the occasion, the CM stressed the need for the early completion of the construction work on Darawat Dam which fell under the responsibility of Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).

He said that the Irrigation department would construct the reservoirs of water while Board of Revenue Sindh would make an assessment and conduct a survey of vacant government lands in Jamshoro and Thatta districts.

The CM said that the government had decided to cultivate vacant government lands, for which land would be distributed among the poor landless haris, preferably the women haris.

He directed the Board of Revenue Sindh senior member, Hyderabad commissioner and deputy commissioners of Jamshoro and Thatta to complete the official survey and assessment of the vacant lands there.

The meeting was informed that there was 25,000 to 50,000 acres of land which could be distributed among the poor and needy landless female haris in that area. He said that each female hari would be given 25 acres of land.

The Sindh CM further directed that the deputy commissioners of Jamshoro and Thatta would be responsible for inviting applications as a procedure under the Land Grant Policy and would hold meetings for the disposal of applications and granting of land to landless female haris.

In view of the directives of the federal government, the Hyderabad commissioner had been directed to form a committee comprising of women MPAs (Member Provincial Assembly) of the Hyderabad division, preferably from Jamshoro and Thatta districts, who could supervise and monitor the assessment, survey and land distribution process.

The meeting was informed that the ownership of water reservoirs would remain with the Sindh government.

Source
 
#260 ·
Solar lights lighten village women’s lives



KARACHI - Saran Thaimor, the elderly fisherwoman was guiding young girls at an open courtyard in remote Ahmed Thaimor village near Jati town, Thatta district to complete embroidery work to prepare bride’s dresses. The bride is her niece belonging to the same locality. “We being close relatives work together on such happy occasions to prepare dresses for grooms and brides and design other handmade items for home decoration to make the events more colourful,” she told this scribe while narrating her story. Being traditionally well skilled in their work, all the village women usually perform this work in day time. But since they have got street solar lights, installed recently at the centers of combined courtyards, they take it blessing to continue working till late night. Saran claims to have more skills, including sewing clothes, doing embroidery with variety of designs and making traditional ralli quilts. Now she spares time to shift these skills to younger girls in the locality. “We usually do this work at daytime. But since we have solar lights now we prefer to make the time useful by continue working till late night,” she said. She accredits Behar-Al Sindh Foundation (BASF) for installing the solar lanterns in collaboration with USAID Small Grants and Ambassador Fund Programme (SGAFP). This small scheme has benefitted residents of some 15 coastal villages in Union Council Karmalik, all of which previously had no access to electricity.Nasiban Thaimor, the young niece of Saran was also doing embroidery work with other girls working in the same group. BASF Executive Director Zaffar Soomro, sharing his contribution, said, “We identified this community because they did not have access to electricity. They are living 15—20-km away from the government’s electricity providers. Looking to the political scenario we can guess there is no hope, which may bring little change in their life for the next several years.” Village elder Jumo Thaimor said, “We have approached local political leaders but as always received promises, which never come true. We cannot imagine having access to light soon.” “We are happy to see our children reading books, doing home works till late night and playing with each other,” he said. The community has formed some 50 groups operating in the localities, where these solar street lights have been installed. Each group collects Rs50 from each household for the monthly maintenance of these installations. However, the elderly woman Saran said actual beneficiaries are skilled women, who continue their working till late night on the light of solar lanterns. The village comprising 48 houses is located at the mouth of disasters, cyclones and floods. The families depend on the sea for fishing, which is only source of livelihood for the majority of coastal communities.The mother of 10 children — five sons and five daughters — Saran is eye witness of ups and downs in the sea. When cyclone hits the area in May 1999, it destroyed all the makeshift abodes, killing a large number of people and animals with destruction all around. Recalling the haunting experience, she said, “At that time we all were at homes (makeshift huts) and saw strong winds with high tides together started suddenly, pushing us to face the devastating disaster. We could not cook meal for three days consecutively, kept continue praying for help,” she narrates the episode. “When it settled down, we saw destruction everywhere. We lost shelters. Then our males remained busy in collecting bodies of family relatives in each village for their funeral,” she said. “We will never forget that devastating disaster. Now whenever we receive warning call about any natural calamity we leave our abodes to safer places without any delay,” she said. The stream ends near there, hence local people call it as controversial Sir Creek, which divides sea borders between Pakistan and India.
 
#269 ·
President chairs meeting to review progress on Zulfiqarabad city project

KARACHI, Oct 31 (APP): President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday chaired a meeting to review progress made so far on the Zulfiqarabad city project here at Bilawal House. The meeting was attended among others by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Secretary General to the President M. Salman Faruqui, provincial ministers, ZDA Managing Director Lt. Gen ® Iftikhar Hussain Shah, and other senior officials concerned.

Managing Director of the Zulfiqarabad Development Authority (ZDA) Lt. Gen ® Iftikhar Hussain Shah, while briefing about the progress made in the proposed city, said that Expression of Interest (EOI) submitted by various companies for establishment of wind power generation project were currently being evaluated.
It may be recalled several firms from China, Turkey, and Czech Republic had shown keen interest for the development of 250 MW Wind Power Project on joint venture basis.
The meeting was informed that the results of technical and financial evaluation of bids for hiring of consultants for legal, financial and transaction advisory services have been communicated to the participating firms as well as to the Sindh Procurement Regulatory Authority for further process.
It was informed that satellite image of around 2500 square kilometre area has been compiled so far.
The Managing Director said that site survey of the Dhandhari bridge as well as that of Expressway has been completed.
He said that the concept, location and technical details for the construction of airstrip and helipad had also been finalised and the land acquisition was in progress.
The meeting was informed that the Zulfiqarabad city project would significantly contribute towards reclamation of precious land being steadily lost in Thatta due to the sea intrusion.
It was informed that 23 acres of land was ruined each day in Thatta due to water logging and salination.
The President, while calling for expediting the work on the project, directed the provincial authorities to assist ZDA in resolving the issues that were being encountered by the Authority.
He said that the early completion of the project would not only solve various issues related to over-saturation of the metropolis but would also result in greater economic activities in the area.
He emphasized on the need to showcase the project to the international investors in order to create greater awareness about the project and to highlight the investment opportunities in the proposed city.
The President also reiterated his call that the progress on the city project should be made available on the internet for the benefit of local as well as foreign investors.
The President directed the authorities concerned to ensure that maximum job opportunities were provided to the local population of Thatta during the developmental project of the new city.
He directed the Sindh Government to ensure that local population was actively involved in the project.
 
#271 ·
Sindh projects & updates

President Asif Ali Zardari chaired a meeting at the Bilawal House here on Friday to review progress made so far on the up-gradation of Karachi-Hyderabad Superhighway M-9 project, the construction/-improvement of Badin link road, construction of Amri bridge across Indus River to connect Qazi Ahmed (N-5) and Amri (N-55) and the14-km long Larkana-Mohenjo Daro road upto airport.

Those present during the meeting included Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Federal Communication Minister Arbab Alamgir Khan, Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Sheikh, Secretary General to President Salman Faruqui, Chairman EOBI, Zafar Iqbal Gondal, Chairman NHA Muhammad Javaid Iqbal, federal and provincial secretaries and senior officials of relevant departments.

The NHA chairman gave an update on the current status on M-9 project. He informed the meeting that the work on construction and improvement of Badin link road had substantially been completed which was affected by the torrential rains of 2010 and 2011, land acquisition, removal and relocation of utilities.

He informed that 46% physical work on package one of the project that involved construction of bridge over Indus River with three small bridges, one flyover and around 2-km right side approach road had been completed. The project managers were coordinating with the Hesco authorities for shifting of 132kv lines due to which the work was stopped on 500 meter patch connecting N-55.

On package-II of the project that involves construction of 15.75 km bridge approach road from the left abutment of bridge to Qazi Ahmed, 52% physical progress has been made, the meeting was apprised.

About 14-km Larkana-Mohenjo Daro road upto airport, it was informed that asphalt base course has been completed on one side and traffic was through. Further asphalt work was in progress and the remaining work would be done within four months.

The president directed the relevant authorities to expedite work on the roads project and to ensure that quality of the construction work was not compromised in any manner.
 
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