‘Centre does not want to snatch federal quarters from residents’

Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi has said that he has asked the federal government’s housing & works minister to make recommendations for resolving the long-pending dispute related to the occupants of the Centre’s different residential quarters in Karachi.

The president disclosed this information on Thursday as he met the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Jamal Siddiqui, who is the Sindh Assembly member that represents the Pakistan Quarters locality. The meeting took into consideration the issue of the occupants of the federal government’s residential quarters in the metropolitan city.

Dr Alvi said the Centre has no intention to snatch the shelter of the people who have the due privilege of having a housing facility. All the legal aspects of the issue related to the federal administration’s residential quarters in Karachi are being duly analysed, he said.

PTI lawmaker Siddiqui expressed gratitude to the president for taking a special interest in the issue of the residents of the federal government’s residential quarters in the metropolis.

He informed Dr Alvi that a committee having representation of the occupants of the federal government’s quarters would be constituted to meet Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on the issue.

The MPA said that they want to resolve the long-pending issue of the occupants of the federal quarters in the city in an amicable manner. He later told The News that the committee, which would meet the governor on the issue, would comprise representatives of each of the residents’ associations of the six federal government’s residential colonies in the city.

The committee in question would also comprise the PTI’s MPA and MNA representing the locality, he said, adding that the forming of the committee is almost complete and it would meet the governor as soon as he returns to the country.

The PTI legislator said that he himself, the president and the governor are more inclined towards the option of providing the occupants of the federal government’s residential quarters a suitable alternative place in the city if they were to vacate their present accommodations in compliance of the Supreme Court’s orders. Siddiqui said that all the stakeholders, including the governor, would try their best to resolve the issue within the deadline given for the purpose by the apex judiciary.

If the issue were to remain unresolved, the governor would again be requested to approach the chief justice to grant another extension in the deadline so that the issue could be resolved amicably, he added.  

Water issue

The PTI’s parliamentary party leader in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh also met President Alvi to discuss the issue of potable water for the residents of the province. The meeting discussed the steps to be taken by the federal government to tackle the persisting situation of drought in District Tharparkar.

Dr Alvi said on the occasion that the issue of drought in Tharparkar should be resolved on a permanent basis, adding that he himself would play a role in this regard. The president said that a serious water crisis in Sindh has been persisting, adding that whatever quantity of the commodity is available in the province is not fit for human consumption.

MPA Sheikh said that the ruling PTI will not leave high and dry the residents of any of the hard-hit areas of Sindh that are suffering from a severe situation of drought, including Tharparkar, Kohistan and Kachoo.

He said that his party will play its due role in initiating programmes for poverty alleviation in the province. He expressed gratitude to President Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan for taking a special interest in trying to resolve the numerous persisting problems of the residents of Sindh.

A day earlier President Alvi had asked Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed to ink the deal to materialise the long-pending plan to revive the Karachi Circular Railway project with Chinese assistance during his visit to China with PM Khan.

The president gave this direction while addressing a ceremony at Karachi’s Cantonment Railway Station, where he launched the new Karachi-Dhabeji rail shuttle service. The railways minister, who was present at the ceremony along with senior railways officials, accompanied the premier on his tour of China that started on Thursday.