Rebuilding of infrastructure: Governments urged to give NDMA, FWO the go-ahead

KARACHI: "The federal and provincial governments must immediately give [their] go-ahead to [the] National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and [the] Frontier Works Organization (FWO)" to rebuild Karachi's shabby infrastructure, a task which is going to take at least four to five years, said the Chairman of Businessmen Group (BMG), Siraj Kassam Teli, who is also a former president of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI).

He urged the federal and provincial governments to release sufficient funds for this giant task so that the development work began at the earliest and continued without any interruption.

He reiterated that the Karachi chamber stood by its demand for giving the task of rebuilding Karachi's infrastructure to the NDMA and the FWO, which had the capability to resolve this serious issue in the next four to five years.

The BMG chairman said that the relevant departments in the provincial setup did not have the capacity or the capability to undertake the gigantic task of rebuilding Karachi's infrastructure, but, fortunately, the NDMA and the FWO had the required capacity, including the machinery, the workforce and the expertise, to instantly start work on Karachi's infrastructure development. Hence, the task of rebuilding of the infrastructure, including sewerage lines, water and electricity distribution networks, reconstruction of roads and other civic facilities etc., must immediately be given to the NDMA and the FWO which would certainly yield positive results and provide the Karachiites the relief they desperately needed.

He said that the infrastructure must be improved on a war-footing which would not only mitigate the grievances of the Karachiites, but it would also promote the business and industrial activities which in turn would favour the economy in the form of better revenue collection.

BMG General-Secretary A Q Khalil said that in view of the dilapidated state of the infrastructure, it had become essential to engage the NDMA and the FWO under the Army's supervision to carry out the task of infrastructure development. He said this city had largely been ignored during the last 20 to 25 years. He said the city's infrastructure had been on the verge of collapse.

A Q Khalil said that BMG chairman's persuasive demand was not only being supported by the majority of business and industrial community but also by an overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of this city.

KCCI President Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan also said that the task to rebuild the infrastructure had to be immediately given to NDMA and FWO so that the entire infrastructure of the city could be improved.

"Karachi city's population has been rapidly growing and the city is also under intense pressure because of substantial influx of people from all over the country. This city needs special and preferential treatment from both the federal and provincial governments," he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020