Four resorts of tourism dept to be outsourced for better service: CM Baqar

The Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (Retd) Maqbool Baqar presiding over the 42nd PPP Policy Board approved outsourcing four resorts including Keenjhar Lake Resort, Haleji Lake Resort, Hawkesbay Resort and Ranikot Guesthouse here on Saturday. The CM directed the PPP unit to rehabilitate these facilities, explore their true potential as well as provide quality entertainment and recreational options under PPP mode. The meeting was attended by provincial caretaker ministers, Mubeen Jumani, Ishwar Lal, Arshad Wali Mohammad, Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam, Chairman P&D Shakil Mangnejo, SMBR Zahid Abbasi, VC NED Dr Sarosh Lodhi, AsifBrohi, CEO Sindh Economic Zone Azeem Uqaili and others. DG PPP Unit Asad Zamin gave a detailed briefing to the chief minister on the PPP framework, including legal, institutional, and regulatory setups. The Board appreciated the accomplishments and awards of PPP projects. Some of the major projects were also briefed upon, such as the Ghotki-Kandhkot Bridge project and Road project, Malir Expressway project, M9-N5 Link Road project, Water Karachi Recycling Water project, 5MDG Desalination project, and NED Technology Park project. The board discussed and decided the agenda of different projects including Nabisar to Vajihar Water Supply Project: The project aims at supplying 45 cusecs of treated water to IPPs at Thar Block II through a 65km pipeline and storage capacity of 45 days. This is the first project of its kind in a PPP mode for a water delivery mechanism. The Board was apprised of the provincial cabinet’s approval regarding the injection of Rs 4.6 billion in the project by way of equity/sub-debt to help achieve the financial close of the project. The Board acknowledged the Cabinet’s decision and appreciated the achievement of the financial close of this project. The project shall address the long pending issue of inadequate inspection facilities for vehicles in Karachi. The private party shall establish 32 state-of-the-art vehicle inspection centres catering to light and heavy vehicles with robust enforcement mechanisms. The project is financially sustainable through user fees, therefore, the government will not provide any financial support to this project. The Board was given a detailed presentation on the salient features of the proposed project. It was further discussed that such kind of a project was much needed in the province as it would not only address the problem of vehicle condition but also the environment-related issues in the province. The Board, therefore, directed to hire transaction advisors to carry out a detailed feasibility study to develop the project for bidding. The Marble City Project envisages the development of a dedicated state-of-the-art facility for setting up marble and allied industries which shall not only save the foreign exchange but also contribute towards the overall economy of the country by way of creating job opportunities, and exportable goods, and bring in foreign investment. The Board was apprised of the background of the project along with the bidding process conducted earlier and its outcome. To attract more completion, the Board was presented with two revised project structures for the Board’s consideration and decision. The first structure was based on conducting the bidding process based on revenue sharing with the provincial government with demand risk being parked with private parties, which had a way of increasing the prices of the plots. The second option was based on conducting the bidding based on the development cost of the project with the demand risk being parked with the Sindh govt. Considering that the objective of the government is to attract serious industrialists to set up the marble industry and not the revenue generation, the Board approved the second structure and emphasized that international competitive bidding may be conducted to ensure wider competition. Outsourcing Resorts of Sindh Tourism Development Corporation is about outsourcing four resorts, Keenjhar Lake Resort, Haleji Lake Resort, Hawkesbay Resort and Ranikot Guesthouse under PPP mode to rehabilitate these facilities, explore their true potential as well as provide quality entertainment and recreational options. The project will promote tourism in Sindh which will also contribute to the economy of the country. The Board was apprised that engaging a private partner for this project would not only help improve/rehabilitate the existing infrastructure but would also address the issue of their operation and maintenance. The Board appreciated the concept and approved the hiring of transaction advisors to conduct detailed feasibility to develop and outsource the project by way of a competitive bidding process. The Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (Retd) Maqbool Baqar while presiding over a meeting regarding traffic issues has directed the Commissioner and Karachi police to start a vigorous crackdown against the illegal parking areas in the city and prosecute the culprits involved in the racket and onward no agency would designate parking slot without consultation with the Traffic police. The CM said that there were different agencies involved in creating traffic problems in the city, therefore he has called a joint meeting of Karachi police, Traffic Police, traffic engineering bureau, SEPA. The meeting was attended by Caretaker Minister Home Brig (r) Haris Nawaz, Minister Tourism and Environment Arshad Wali Mohammad, Mayor Karachi Murtaza Wahab, Home Secretary Iqbal Memon, IG Police Riffat Mukhtar, Additional IG Karachi Khadim Rind, Commissioner Karachi Saleem Rajput, Secretary Transport Asad Zamin, DIG Traffic Iqbal Dara, DIG Driving Licenses Irfan Baloch, DG SEPA Waris Gabol, Director Traffic Engineering Tariq Raffi and other concerned.DIG Traffic Iqbal Dara briefed the chief minister on the overall traffic police strength, and the issues involved in traffic congestion in the city. The traffic police have a total strength of 9077 against which 6699 are working which shows a shortfall of 26.1 per cent or 2378 policemen. The CM was told that the city has a network of 9500 km where around 6.5 million vehicles, including 4,054,546 motorcycles are plying. Approximately 350,000 new vehicles are registered every year in the city and around 65,000 Extra seat Rickshaws are running in the city on illegal routes. During 2023 around 1.62 million tickets were issued for violation of traffic laws against which Rs836.12 million fine was recovered.