Shahbaz pledges to develop Sindh like Punjab

KARACHI: The PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif expressed his desire to develop the city of Karachi and the province of Sindh and bring prosperity to them.

Shahbaz made the remarks while meeting different delegations of PML-N leaders belonging to Karachi and the rest of Sindh at the Governor’s House.

Expressing the desire to resolve the issue of availability of potable water in the city on war-footing, the PML-N president said he is ready to spend as much money as possible to resolve this problem. He said the spending of national resources to resolve the major civic issues in Karachi is the right of the city, being the largest metropolis of the country. He said “had there been no plundering of wealth, Karachi and Sindh would not have met such a situation”.

He said the unattended piles of garbage have diminished the beauty of Karachi. “We will revive the glory of this ‘City of Lights’ and everybody has to do work collectively for this cause. We will ensure Metro buses ply in Karachi,” the Punjab chief minister said. He said the PML-N led federal government had completed new energy projects of 10,000 MWs power generation capacity. He said the completion of such a large number of development projects during the tenure of the present government was unprecedented in the 70 years’ history of the country.

Shahbaz said there is no alternative to Nawaz Sharif as he is a great leader and nobody could deprive Nawaz Sharif of his popularity among the masses. He said Nawaz Sharif has been and would remain the Quaid of the party.

Talking to the delegation of Karachi-based businessmen and industrialists, the PML-N president said, the manner the federal government worked to eliminate the menace of extortion and terrorism from Karachi, similarly the fundamental problems of the city would also be resolved.

“It is my promise that if elected to power, the PML-N would turn Karachi into Paris.”

He said the situation in the cities of Sindh would have been far improved if the public finances were spent judiciously like in Punjab.

The PML-N president said Pakistan would only make progress when the four provinces would be developed with a uniform speed. He said the PML-N government has initiated concrete steps to ease the process of doing business in the country. He said the consultation process with businessmen would continue. The representatives of the business community said they wanted the same level and pace of progress and development as has been done in Punjab.

Meanwhile, Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar also met the Punjab chief minister at Governor’s House and said the city has no modern transportation system. Waseem Akhtar said Karachi lacked a proper waste disposal system. He said Karachi could only be cleaned after installing a system to dispose of 13,000 tonnes garbage being generated in the city. He said the 13 hospitals being run by the KMC are in bad shape. The mayor said he doesn’t need money for these hospitals and instead someone should take up the responsibility to improve their condition.

Akhtar apprised the PML-N president that despite being the mayor of the city, he doesn’t enjoy municipal powers.

The Punjab chief minister and the Karachi mayor also discussed the recently announced special development package of the federal government for the metropolis. The mayor also discussed issues related to developing a working relationship and understanding on political issues.

Meanwhile, Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair also met Punjab chief minister at the Governor House and appreciated steps initiated by the federal government to restore peace, maintain law and order, and build new civic and industrial infrastructure in the city.

Addressing a PML-N workers convention, Shahbaz Sharif has asked the people of Sindh to give a chance to the PML-N to form government here. "Under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif, we will change the destiny of Karachi and other parts of the province." "There's no dearth of money but of honesty," he remarked, pledging that if given a chance his party will spend trillions of rupees to resolve the issues here.

Shahbaz said Imran Khan and Asif Ali Zardari are two sides of the same coin and have been looting the country wherever their governments are.

He said while both PTI and PPP opposed each other on every issue but in the Senate election their nexus was exposed when they joined hands to manipulate in the upper house of the parliament.

It was Shahbaz's first visit to Karachi after assuming the presidency of the PML-N after the Supreme Court disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from assuming any public office, following the conviction in Panama Scandal.

Referring to the PPP co-chairperson Zardari's claim of forming the next government at the Centre, he said if it happened, then the God Almighty may protect the country from going further backwards.

Criticizing, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Shahbaz said he has not been able to produce even a megawatt of power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where his party has the government.

He credited Nawaz and former army chief Raheel Sharif for restoring the peace in Karachi and blamed corruption for the lack of basic necessities situation in the city.

He said there should have been more projects like Green Line in Karachi and vowed that if his party came into power at Center and in the province, he will himself supervise such projects to bring life back to its pace in the city.

Meanwhile, the Punjab Chief Minister has come up with his own improvised version of the popular slogan “Marsu Marsu Sindh na Desu” used by the ruling PPP government in Sindh.

Shahbaz tweeted in his improvised version that those who raised the slogan “Marsu Marsu Sindh na Desu” in fact meant “Marsu Marsu Koee Kam na Kar Su”.

Responding to the tweet, PPP leader Senator Maula Bakhsh Chandio said those who had run away after making apologies could only make mockery of “Marsu Marsu”.

Chandio said the younger Sharif has started touring the country to celebrate the life-time disqualification of his elder brother. “Shahbaz Sharif should keep with him the artificial development of his province as foundations of a sustainable development are being laid here in Sindh,” said the PPP senator.

The PPP’s senator said that Shahbaz Sharif should not worry about Sindh as he should better face the corruption cases pending against him.

Meanwhile, Shahbaz, talking to newsmen at the Governor’s House, said he wants to work along with the representatives of all the communities living in Karachi to resolve major problems of the city.

He said the federal government has provided the funding to build K-IV bulk water supply system in the city but for unknown reasons the project remains incomplete.

He said a national level commission has to be formed, for creating new provinces. “That commission should decide where the new provinces will be established as the proposal will be approved by the parliament,” the Punjab chief minister said. He said back in 2012, the PML-N dominated Punjab Assembly took the initiative to adopt a resolution for creating new provinces.

Shahbaz lamented that the federal government had done its part to build the mega development projects in Karachi including the Green Line bus service but unfortunately the Sindh government did not do its part.

He said “we would work along with Urdu speaking community and the people of the other communities living in Karachi to resolve the problems of the city.”

Also on Saturday, ANP Sindh chapter head Shahi Sayed also called on Shahbaz to discuss matters of mutual interest and political affairs, as the chief minister said the political parties should work jointly for the country.

Meanwhile, renowned religious scholars Maulana Ihtesham-ul-Haq Thanvi and Maulana Tanveer-ul-Haq Thanvi announced their decision to join the PML-N during a meeting with Shahbaz.