PTI leader says federal govt to develop Karachi

Keeping its promise to develop Karachi, the federal government launched projects worth Rs278 billion in Karachi, some of which have been inaugurated and work is in progress on the others.

This was stated by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Vice President and its parliamentary leader in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh as he addressed a news conference on Sunday at the Insaf House, the party’s provincial secretariat.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has committed to uplifting not only Karachi but also the entire Sindh province, Sheikh said. “This is why the Sindh province is today saying ‘Thank you Imran Khan’," he said.

Sheikh added that the residents of Karachi were thankful to the prime minister for allocating funds for the development of the city. He said three flyovers in Karachi were inaugurated on Saturday that incurred a cost of Rs2,400 million. The cost for Nishter Road’s renovation was Rs800 million, Numaish Road Rs800 million and Manghopir Road Rs950 million, he said.

The PTI leader maintained that the projects that were going to be completed in 2020 included a water pipeline from Hub to Manghopir for Rs1,500 million and the Karachi Mass Transit underground terminal. He said the foundation stones of these projects would be laid on August 14.

Without naming the PTI’s political opponents in Sindh such as the Pakistan Peoples Party, he said those who did not believe in the federal government’s package of RsRs165 billion for Karachi should know that projects worth Rs278billion had already been given to the city by the federal government.

He added that another project that would be completed during the year 2020-21 was the supply of 50 fire tenders to the city.

The PTI leader said the federal government had given Rs5 billion to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. Regarding the federal government’s measures for the development of other areas of Sindh, he said roads in different cities were being renovated and repaired with Rs5 billion. He also claimed that the fund of Rs1 billion had already been earmarked for Hyderabad, Nawabshah and Sukkur each.

He said projects of the Green Line Bus Rapid Transit worth Rs35,000 million, Manghopir to Jam Chakro Road worth Rs1,400million, M-9 interchange worth Rs1,800 million and Sindh package worth Rs2.75 billion had already been announced.

He said under the public-private partnership, the federal government conceived the project of the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway, for which people were thankful to federal minister Asad Umar.

Sheikh said the PTI would work for Karachi because the city had voted for the party. He added that the party’s MNAs from Karachi were also being given uplift funds by the federal government. The PTI government will resolve the problems of slums of Karachi, he vowed.

He alleged that resources of Sindh had been plundered. “Karachi, the megacity, which provides 65 per cent revenue to Pakistan, has been made a big garbage hill. Residents of Karachi are thirsty,” he said, adding that the ruler of Sindh had meted out step-motherly treatment to the people and towns of Sindh.

PTI Karachi General Secretary and MPA Saeed Afridi, MNA Attaullah Khan, MPAs Dua Bhutto and Kareem Bux Gabol, and PTI Karachi vice president Subhan Ali Sahil were also present during the press conference.