Malir River Expressway? In your dreams!

[Salman]

Malir River Expressway? In your dreams!


KARACHI - The Sindh government has put aside the Malir River Expressway project, which is to serve the population of 5 million with the objective of increasing the traffic corridor of the city, and this strategic expressway is required to carry the increased traffic on account of increased economic activities in northern Karachi.
The Education City and the DHA City are to put tremendous amount of pressure on the existing infrastructure of the metropolitan, especially the transport, as the increase in these projects’ development activities would multiply the traffic load on the existing corridors, so the Malir Expressway project is a must for the biggest city of the country.
The project worth Rs 80 billion would be one of the most strategic economic corridors of the city that on the one hand, provides a strategic link to the Super Highway, and on the other, is the main passageway to the Education City and the DHA City.
It is to serve a population of 5 million apart from visitors and transport-related people, as this 47.62-kilometre road with three lanes up to the Super Highway would most likely be the future trade corridor of the city.
However, the provincial government has asked the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to complete this project through the public-private partnership scheme, despite the fact that this is not a commercially viable project and the investors are not interested in it, said the sources.
They said in the first week of this month, a meeting of all project stakeholders was held under the provincial chief secretary, and it was decided that this project should be completed through the public-private partnership programme.
Therefore, the sponsor of the project, the KMC, has recently advertised for Expressions of Interest (EOIs), which means this crucial project has been put aside for an indefinite period, they added.
The KMC has shown the presentation to the chief secretary, and is now going to show it to the governor on Thursday, after which they would show it to the chief minister for further deliberations, said the sources.
They said three applications for the issue of EOIs have been received and the pre-bid meeting is to be held on January 24, whereas the last date of submitting the EOI is February 17.
Public-private partnership programmes do not work in Pakistan, as initiating any project under this programme means relegating it, and this kind of infrastructure projects are not commercially viable because the dominant sharing from the private sector is to be paid back only through tool taxes, which the investors think of as a less-effective business, they added.
The KMC does not even have Rs 1 billion, so it is beyond imagination that they would be able to complete the project, and the Sindh government does not have the funds either.
Consequently, this important project might never be initiated, but experts say that there is one provision in the Public-Private Partnership Act-2010, namely the Gap Fund, through which the government provides funds to the projects that are not commercially viable.
The Indian government has a good track record in the public-private partnership sphere, as their government provides 40 percent of the total cost of such projects through this provision of Gap Fund, so the Sindh government could do the same to make this project a reality for the citizens of Karachi, reasoned the experts.
One example of the unfruitful public-private partnership programme is the Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas Carriageway, a 60-kilometre road, which was initiated in 2010 with the partnership of a Korean company, and the project was supposed to be completed a while ago, but it still remains unfinished due to financial issues of both the parties.
The importance of the Malir River Expressway project could be gauged from the fact that it is to connect the DHA City and the Education City – a setup of $5 billion – to the main city.
Therefore, it would also provide ample relief to the citizens in the years to come by acting as an alternate main highway to the Jinnah International Airport.
It is pertinent to mention here that to meet the already growing demand of transportation in this area, the KMC has decided to convert the existing embankments of the Malir River to a road facility with two separately aligned carriageways.
This project would in turn provide impetus to economic productivity by facilitating high speed transportation facility for transportation of exportable produces to various areas of the country and abroad.