PM to inaugurate renovated Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim on March 29: governor

Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Karachi on March 29 to perform inauguration of the renovated Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim.

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail disclosed the PM’s upcoming visit to the city while he was speaking to media persons at the Karachi Expo Centre on Wednesday after attending the closing ceremony of an exhibition organised by the Pakistan Plastic Manufacturers Association.

The PM has been taking fullest interest in the progress and development of Karachi as he considers it the economic backbone of the country, the governor claimed. Ismail said a significant number of development projects were being constructed in Karachi to provide the most modern civic amenities to the residents of the city as the progress of Karachi meant the progress of the entire country.

He went on to say that the PM would again visit the city later in the current year in September to inaugurate five federally funded development projects in the city.

Ismail said work had been in progress on the Karachi Circular Railway project. To a question, he replied that residents of Pakistan Quarters, a residential locality for federal government’s employees in the city, would not be evicted from their homes until alternative arrangements had been made for their accommodation and resettlement. Ownership rights should be given to the residents of Pakistan Quarters to make them owners of their dwellings, the governor remarked.

When asked to comment on Governor House hosting news conferences of leaders of the ruling party in the centre, Ismail said leaders of the political parties who were in the opposition in Parliament were also equally welcome to address news conferences at the Governor House.

The government had the utmost resolve to promote the plastic industry of the country but at the same time the use of plastic bags should be banned to conserve the environment as the practice had been adopted worldwide, the governor said. Earlier speaking at the closing ceremony of the exhibition, Ismail said Karachi was not just the economic hub of the country but also served as an ideal destination for foreign investors.

He said foreign companies should take advantage of the economic potential of the country, make investments here and launch joint ventures in partnership with local investors. The present government has been providing maximum privileges to the investors and industrialists in the country to increase the country’s exports to boost the economy, he said.