What is the Competitive and Livable City of Karachi (CLICK) project and how will it develop the city of lights? How many funds are given by the World Bank? Which areas the project is expected to improve? In this blog, we will address all these questions and a lot more.
What is Competitive and Livable City of Karachi (CLICK) all about?
A World Bank-assisted project for Karachi, CLICK is all set to address the challenges faced by the city.
The Competitive and Livable City of Karachi is a PKR 33.6 billion, around a $240 million, worth project financed by the World Bank. The provincial government of Sindh has also committed to share $10 million.
The CLICK project is further divided into four components
- A $120 million grant will be given to urban local councils in Karachi in the form of performance-based block grants.
- A $50 million grant would be given in the strategic infrastructure investment and capacity building in integrated stormwater drainage and solid waste management in Karachi.
- Another grant worth $30 million would be given to support the urban immovable property tax reform and ensure institutional capacity building.
- A $50 million grant will also be given to support for an enhanced regulatory environment and infrastructure financing for a competitive Karachi.
It is expected that the project will modernize the urban property tax system, incentivize the private sector’s participation in service delivery, enhance the ease of doing business, and also improve solid waste management in Karachi, which is a major challenge the city faces.
Reforms in urban property tax system
Through CLICK, the World Bank is going to fund a detailed survey of properties in Karachi as the government plans to empower local bodies to collect property taxes. The World Bank is helping the provincial government streamline the property collection process from next year i.e. 2020.
The government’s plan is to help local bodies be self-sufficient in collecting property taxes. For this purpose, through the World Bank’s assisted project – CLICK – the local bodies like Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, the six District Municipal Corporations, District Council Karachi and the excise and taxation department will be financially strengthened and given full support to collect property taxes. In case you want to know more about property taxes in Pakistan, then read our blog, which extensively covers the topic.
This part of the CLICK process involves the devolution of administrative functions of the Urban Immovable Property Tax (UIPT) to local bodies in Karachi.
Through UIPT reform an institutional model will be developed. It is expected that in the Phase-I of this reform through CLICK an All Karachi property survey will be conducted to update the property tax database. Efforts will be made to digitize the property tax base for all six districts in Karachi. IT system upgrades, implementation of a revised institutional structure and training and capacity-building support are a part of it.
Phase-II will involve work on deeper reforms in the property tax system. The function to collect property taxes in Karachi will be devolved to DMCs in a phased manner, a number of options are also considered for provincial-level management through an ICT platform that manages the fiscal cadaster or property register.
Performance-based grants to local bodies in Karachi
These block grants to Karachi’s urban local administrative bodies will be based on their performances. A total of $120 million grants have been reserved for this purpose. It will be given to KMC and the six DMCs based on their performances and the results they generate. It will incentivize the process and will help urban local councils to improve their performance and capacity in investment planning and execution, business and social environment and citizen’s engagement and participation in the processes.
Improve Karachi’s livability
The grants would also fund local infrastructure and municipal services that fall within the mandates of the urban local councils to help improve Karachi’s livability and competitiveness. It is expected that the project will help improve the drainage system in Karachi, solid waste management in the city, improve public buildings and markets. It would also lead to the development of roads, more parks and other public spaces. Street lights would also be installed under this initiative.
Regulatory environment
The grants will help in the development of a strategy, an institutional framework for an infrastructure financing model and enhance the regulatory environment.
The main activities which will be financed include feasibility studies and technical assistance ‘for developing and setting up a proposed Karachi Infrastructure Fund (KIF) and a technical assistance program targeted at KMC and DMCs to pilot public-private partnerships for service and infrastructure provision,’ as published in a local English daily. This part of the CLICK project will ensure that the regulatory and business environment is improved by streamlining, simplifying, modernizing and automating the regulatory governance. It will also improve commercial dispute resolution, which is particularly related to property rights.
So, this was all there was to know about the CLICK project in Karachi. This will be one of the major development projects in Karachi once it begins in full swing. Stay tuned for more informative posts. If you are planning to visit Karachi for a day and don’t know which places to visit, then do check out our guide. Share your views with us about this project. How do you think CLICK will make the city of lights more livable? Please write to us at blog@zameen.com
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