KARACHI: The World Bank and the Sindh government joined hands to launch a $145 million Sindh Covid-19 Response Programme and a Locust Control Programme in the province.
This decision was made in a meeting between Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and World Bank country director Patchamuthu Illangovan through video link. The chief minister took part in the meeting from the CM House and the WB director with his team from his Islamabad office.
Minister for energy Minister Imtiaz Sheikh, CM’s coordinator Haris Gazdar, chairman of P&D Mohammad Waseem, energy secretary Musadiq Khan, finance secretary Hassan Naqvi and investment secretary Najam Shah also joined the meeting.
CM said that his government with technical and financial support of the World Bank wanted to launch a Covid-19 impact programme, for which, resource mobilisation through diversion of funds/restructuring, re-purposing and realigning World Bank portfolio would be required.
Specific monitoring system was being developed in Karachi. “But I want a high impact Covid-19 monitoring system to be developed for the entire province,” he suggested to the WB.
The World Bank chief approved the proposal and said the provincial government could use funds to the tune of $135m from its different projects by diverting the amount until the project was formally approved at the forums concerned.
