Haleem sees no development in Sindh in last 15 years

Over the past 15 years of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) rule in Sindh, billions of rupees were allocated in the budgets but they did not translate into any development in the province.

Sindh Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Haleem Adil Sheikh, who also served as the leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly in the past, said this as he addressed a press conference at the Insaf House on Saturday.

He was accompanied by PTI leaders Faheem Khan, Jamal Siddiqui, MPA Shabbir Qureshi, Sarbuland Khan, Aftab Jahangir and others.

Sheikh said that the people of Sindh lacked basic amenities because funds allocated for development were embezzled.

The PTI leader said the forest cover in Sindh was getting destroyed as a large part of the forest land had been illegally occupied. He added that while the world was trying to save the forests, the Sindh government was cutting them down.

Regarding education, Sheikh stated that Rs1,920 billion had been allocated for the education sector over the course of 15 years and Rs454 billion was allocated for the fiscal year 2024-25 but despite all such huge allocations, 6 million children were out of schools and over 12,000 schools had been closed.

He stated that more than 26,000 schools lacked drinking water and 19,000 schools had no toilets while 31,000 schools are without electricity and 21,900 schools had no boundary walls.

The PTI leader said 36,000 schools had no playgrounds and 47,000 schools were without laboratories. He also pointed out the issue of ghost teachers and schools converted into cattle pens or guest houses.

He was of the view that scholarships for deserving children and free textbook distribution had been marred by corruption. Sindh s education standards were the worst in Pakistan with the education department embroiled in a Rs3 billion desk scandal, he alleged.

He noted that from 2008 to 2024, many education projects could not be completed, including Education City, boarding school schemes, cadet school projects, digital libraries in colleges, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Law College in Lyari, Aseefa Bhutto Institute of Electronics Mirpurkhas and Hala medical college.

Sheikh said that despite an increase in the number of teachers and heavy allocation of funds in the budget, educational standards had not improved in Sindh. He added that the government also could not conduct a census for private schools and madrasas.

Regarding the health sector, Sheikh said Rs1,144 billion was allocated over 15 years and Rs300 billion for 2024-25 but still hospitals lacked ambulances and medicines. He lamented that there were no burns wards outside Karachi.

He pointed out an increase in AIDS cases, unavailability of anti-rabies vaccines amidst rising dog bite case and non-functional health care commission that could not keep a check on quackery as key failures of the Sindh government in the health sector.

The PTI leader said the project of 41 trauma centres was incomplete since 2013 and many government hospitals had shortage of doctors. He alleged that political transfers and postings had plagued the health department. He said private organisations had been running 600-800 ambulances in Karachi but government hospitals lacked such services.

Commenting on law and order, Sheikh said Rs1,260 billion had been spent over 15 years and Rs172 billion was allocated for 2024-25 but still street crime was thriving in Karachi with over 75 citizens killed during robberies during the current year.

Sheikh said the police had been politicised and public safety compromised.

Regarding local governments, he said Rs1,162 billion had been spent in the last 15 years with no improvement in roads, sanitation or drainage systems. He was of the view that Karachi had been plagued by garbage, polluted water, stray dogs and tanker mafia.

He also decried the fact that no new mega projects were included in the 2024-25 budget for Karachi that contributed 95 per cent of Sindh’s budget.

Sheikh also criticised the PPP government’s performance in the industrial sector citing incomplete projects like Mineral City Agri Industrial City, Dairy Village and Ghotki Industrial Estate.