Sindh seeks World Bank funding for Karachi

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah discussed $143.9mn development portfolio, including $35.1mn for Karachi, with the World Bank country director and urged the bank to support the provincial government to undertake reconstruction of rain-affected infrastructure of the city.
The meeting was organised on video link.
The new World Bank country director, Najy Benhassine, and his team joined the meeting from Islamabad.
Chief Minister Shah was assisted by Planning and Development chairman Mohamed Waseem and finance secretary Hassan Naqvi.
The chief minister said that in August, in a single day Karachi received over 250mm rainfall which destroyed road network in the city.
Therefore, his government has decided to reconstruct the damaged road network and line all the nullahs (storm-water drains) by removing encroachments that have emerged along the embankments.
Shah also said that he visited four districts Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Sanghar, and Badin, which had also been hit by heavy downpour.
He added that the standing crops had been destroyed and rainwater washed away a large number of homes.
“We have shifted the affected people to a tent city set up in Umerkot,” he said.
The World Bank country chief Benhassine assured the chief minister that he would work out a plan to finance reconstruction of the infrastructure of Karachi, including the construction of storm-water drains.
The country director advised the chief minister to engage Waseem with the World Bank team for submission of proposal along with other necessary documents.
Official sources said that World Bank-funded projects worth $608.8mn are in progress, including the $56mn Sindh Agriculture Growth Project.
They said that this project is 81% complete, and while the $93.8mn Sindh Agriculture Productivity Enhancement Project is 51% completed.
The sources said that $47mn Sindh Public Sector Management Reforms Project had been completed.
The $20mn Sindh Enhancing Response to Reduce Stunting Project was 32% complete, and the $71.2mn Sindh Resilience Project was 71% complete.
The $259.1mn Sindh Water Sector Improvement Project Phase-I was 99% complete, the $56.4mn Sindh Barrages Improvement Project was 18% complete, the $4mn Sindh Multi-Sectoral Action Nutrition Project was 80% complete, and the $1mn Sindh Solar Energy Project (SSEP) was at the initial stage.
At present, four World Bank-funded projects are in progress in the city.
They are the $25.3mn Karachi Neighbourhood Project (29% complete), the $1.1mn Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project (3% complete), the $4mn Karachi Mobility Project (started recently), and the $4.8mn Competitive and Liveable City of Karachi Project (CLICK), which is 2% complete.