PPP’s Sindh govt treats Karachi as golden goose, claims JI city chief

Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi Emir Monem Zafar Khan has said that the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) government in Sindh treats the city as a golden goose. Speaking at a convention, he said the PPP government takes full advantage of Karachi and its resources but never facilitates the city, which is home to over 35 million individuals.

Khan lamented that despite being the highest tax-paying city in Pakistan, Karachi still lacks basic civic facilities. He said the city faces power outages lasting up to 18 hours, more than half the city has no access to tap water, and residents are forced to buy water at high prices.

Affordable and reliable public transport is unavailable, roads are in disrepair, and instead of improving the city’s infrastructure, the government is busy issuing heavy e-challans, he added.

He pointed out that within just six hours, fines worth over Rs12 million were issued to Karachi’s residents, and that a fine of Rs200 in Punjab costs Rs5,000 in Karachi. He lamented that highly educated youth of Karachi are now forced to work for food delivery services.

He also said that over the past two years, the JI has restored 171 parks in nine of the towns being run by the party’s representatives. In Sindh, 7.8 million children are deprived of education, yet the JI has renovated and rebuilt 42 government schools, he added.

He pointed out that the city’s streets have been illuminated with the installation of over 100,000 street lights, and model neighbourhoods have been developed. He emphasised that the JI is not a party that throws files, it is a party that serves and delivers. He claimed that the Sindh government has seized control of all local government institutions in Karachi and refuses to devolve powers to grassroots level.

Recalling the contributions of the JI’s then city mayor Naimatullah Khan, he said the K-III water project had been his vision, yet even after 22 years, the K-IV project remains incomplete. He lamented that its cost has ballooned from Rs25 billion to Rs126 billion.

He said the city’s sewerage system is in a shambles, adding that the JI is also working to fix it, because only after resolving sewerage issues can the roads be rebuilt properly and paved with paver blocks.

He announced that on November 21, 22 and 23, the JI would hold a grand public gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore under the theme ‘Badal Do Nizam’ (Change the System). He said the event would serve as a milestone in the struggle to end the system of oppression in the country.