Karachi: A Chinese firm on Monday expressed its interest in completing the K-IV water supply project, a news source reported. This is the second Chinese company to have expressed its willingness to complete the project; which has suffered from various developmental delays for many years.
The Karachi K-IV water supply project spans over 121 kilometres and is estimated to provide 650 MGD of water supply to Karachi once completed. The Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) started the project two years ago, and the departments concerned have so far spent PKR 11.9 billion on its development.
The China Energy Engineering Group Planning & Engineering Co Ltd (CEEC) has written an Expression of Interest letter to the Ministry of Finance and the Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah. The company is already working on projects that are part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative.
The CEEC’s president has indicated in the letter that his firm had already conducted a preliminary study of the K-IV project, and that several flaws had been discovered during its research. For this purpose, he offered his company’s expertise to redesign the project.
A senior officer associated with the K-IV water supply project has revealed that proposals from both Chinese companies were discussed in meetings held before the lockdown.
Earlier, the Sindh government had hired NESPAK to identify the problems with the project. Following a detailed report, the provincial government had formed a committee to bring the concerned authorities on board and discuss the venture in further detail.
