CDGK looking at Sindh government for further Rs 450 million:
By Irfan Aligi
KARACHI: The construction of the Signal Free Corridor-III was started in Apr 2009 and was scheduled to complete by Jun 2009. However, the fateful SFC-III is yet to be completed as one of the vital projects of the SFC-III, the loop down inside the central prison Karachi has stuck to drag the deadline ahead.
The City District Government Karachi (CDGK) and Sindh government had funded the SFC-III project with bearing load of expenditures by 50 percent each. The PC-I cost of the central prison loop was Rs 1.16 billion and it had three major segments including a loop down inside the central prison, a ramp and an At Grade road toward the Civic centre.
However, the SFC-III is yet to be completed due to various problems. The biggest hurdle ahead of the CDGK is to arrange the sum of money of its 50 percent share because serious financial deficit and certain types of retrenchments have compelled it to look for funds from other stakeholders.
In this regard, the CDGK had sent a summary to Sindh Chief Minister with a formal request to arrange for additional 50 percent share that is to say that Sindh government would take the responsibility of funding the SFC-III by 100 percent.
The summary for 50 percent funds was moved around three months ago but it is not yet sure when it would be approved or rejected. If it were not done, the remaining project would remain as it is.
The Sindh Home secretary had fully cooperated with the CDGK and the later was permitted to pass a loop from inside the jail premise. However, the jail staffers are using the premise as residential area. The CDGK committed to construct a high rise building at the demarcated location with 100 residential apartments so that the jail staffers should be shifted to that building. The construction of the loop could only start after the jail staffers were fully shifted there.
The CDGK works and services department is carrying out the work on construction of the high-rise building but at a pace of a turtle due to stingy funds at hand. The summary sent to Sindh CM for another 50 percent share would be around Rs 450 million.
The project was the oldest one in the history of city as well as CDGK, which was left, abandoned for long due to issue of shifting of 1385 families settled around the Preedy Street flyover, a project of SFC-III. However, Muttahidda Qaumi Movement managed to shift those families and rehabilitated them in Mehmoodabad. Each of the families was allocated plots and Rs 50,000 cash was paid in advance.
The PC-I cost of the entire SFC-III was increased to Rs 2.5 billion due to addition of various schemes for beautification and others. Very recently, the cost has once again increased by Rs 400 million after completion of 20 pedestrian bridges on different locations besides the SFC-III. Thus the cost comes to nearly Rs 3 billion.
The City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal had performed the groundbreaking ceremony of the SFC-III in Apr 2009.
In May 2009, the construction work of SFC-III was complete by 70 percent except the central prison loop, which still lingers on despite the fact that the City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal had issued directives that the entire corridor should be completed by Aug 12 so as to ensure its inauguration on Aug 14, the Independence Day and Sindh governor Dr Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan had inaugurated the SFC-III on Aug 13, 2009.
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