Karachi owned by neither federal nor Sindh govts, says JI city chief

Karachi: The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday said that following the footprints of the previous regimes, the incumbent government did not announce the Provincial Financial Commission (PFC) award, practically keeping Karachi deprived of its due resources.

“Neither does the Sindh government nor does the federal government own Karachi,” Rehman said talking to office-bearers of the SITE Association at its office.

The JI leader said that the party had held protest sit-ins outside the Sindh Assembly for 29 continuous days. “As a result of the continuous protest, the Sindh government agreed to provide a share of Octroi district tax, motor vehicle tax, PFC Awards, and to appoint an elected mayor of the local government as chairman of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board,” he added.

Unfortunately in the past, the representatives of Karachi had sold out the mandate of the city, Rehman said. He added that both the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had dashed the hopes and aspirations of their voters.

He asked the people of Karachi to come into the fold of the party for a joint struggle to resolve the issues of the city.

Rehman said the JI had been serving the masses in Karachi and had upheld the struggle for the rights of the city in contrast to its opponents.

He remarked that the shortage of water had equally affected both domestic and industrial consumers. He lamented that the last project executed for water supply to Karachi was the K-III project — another feather in the cap of the late Naimatullah Khan, the city nazim during 2000s who belonged to the JI.

Since the last 17 years, no new water project was introduced in Karachi, Rehman said. “The K-IV project was passed during the tenure of Naimatullah Khan.”