Site Limited keen to improve infrastructure of area

KARACHI: Site Limited managing director Munawar Ali Mahesar has expressed keen interest in the development of the Site area through sound and secure infrastructure, a statement said.

He agreed with the industrialists about the strategic importance of the first industrial estate of Pakistan that is also responsible for a large percentage of total exports and said with the additional disbursement from the Sindh government these issues can be resolved.

Addressing members of the Site Association of Industry, he said the Site Limited is exploring multiple avenues and out of the box solutions to tackle issues of debris, garbage and general upkeep of the industrial estate.

The Site managing director appreciated the cooperation and support extended to him and his organisation by SAI and looked forward to continuation of the same.

Both parties agreed that with the current level of efforts and mutual understanding, the Site area could soon be restored to its classification as a model industrial estate.

He also agreed to the suggestion of the Site Association of Industry to establish an online complaint centre to address the issues of the area.

Increase in encroachments in the Site area are due to the ineffective security system of Site Ltd, which will be looked into, he said.

On the suggestion of a senior member, he issued instructions to make the existing fire hydrant of Site area functional to store 40 to 50 water tankers and assured that streetlights of main roads will be made functional through K-Electric soon.

To further augment the infrastructure, more roads would be rebuilt in the Site area for which funds are available, he added.

Abdul Rasheed, president of the SAI, shared with him a proposed list of roads for the purpose.

Earlier, Rasheed thanked the SITE Limited managing director for his visit and drew his attention towards the encroachments, garbage lifting and general cleaning, tree plantation and water issues and stressed to resolve these issues on a priority basis.

He complained about other departments visiting Site industries to collect different taxes such as trade licence fee and said that only Site Ltd should collect trade licence fee, as the area falls under its jurisdiction.

Zubair Motiwala, patron-in-chief of the Site Association of Industry, said: “We are in contact with the Sindh government for the transfer of property tax of Site area to the Site Limited to increase its revenue.

He appreciated the performance of the Site Limited’s new managing director and said that the saying “actions speak louder than words” stands true in his case.

He urged the Site official to take personal interest in resolving water issues of the area, particularly, the project of water line from Hub Dam to Site area, which is just 11km long.

He suggested hiring a consultant to see the viability of a waste energy plant.

Jawed Bilwani, former president, said that the Site Limited staff are getting salaries and pensions on time, which shows improvement in its performance, adding that the sides of roads should not be higher than road level and main roads should be in good condition at all times.

No permission should be granted to cover the nullah for parking purposes, which makes the cleaning of nullah very difficult, he added.

Saleem Parekh, former president, emphasised the need to keep a budget for the maintenance of all the roads being constructed, as the Site Limited is the ultimate owner of all the roads and also suggested making the road from Naurus to Siemens a model area.

Former president, Saud Mahmood, SVP, Muhammad Kamran Arbi, VP, Younus Bashir, Majyd Aziz, Tariq Yousuf, Sikandar Imran, Anwer Aziz, Abdul Hadi, Junaid Makda, Saleem Nagaria, Riazuddin, Abdul Kadir Bilwani, Naveed Wahid, Khalid Riaz, Muhammad Riaz Dhedhi, Azeem Motiwala, Touseef Ahmed, Muhammad Hussain Moosani and others were also present in the meeting.