Local government minister asks PTI MPAs toget funds released for K-IV project from Centre

Reacting to allegations of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPAs against the Sindh government regarding the delay in the completion of the K-IV project, Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani has asked the PTI legislators to persuade their party’s federal government to release funds for the project.

A delegation of the PTI MPAs led by Firdous Shamim Naqvi had visited the site of the K-IV project on Sunday. During the visit, the PTI leaders had blamed the Sindh government for the delay in the project’s completion.

Speaking to media persons at the Sindh Assembly on Monday, Ghani said as the PTI MPAs had visited the site of the K-IV bulk water supply project to get a briefing on it first-hand, they should now play their due part for getting the much-needed additional financial assistance and other support from the Centre to get the project completed as soon as possible.

The local government minister said that after getting a briefing on the project, the PTI MPAs should have now come to know the exact causes for the escalation in the cost of the K-IV project and the undue delay in its completion.

He said he hoped now that Naqvi, who is also the opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, would play his due role not just in getting additional funds released for the project but also securing the allocation of an additional quota of 1,200 cusecs of water for the K-IV project.

The opposition had always given the impression that some sort of corruption or inefficiency on the part of the Sindh government had delayed the K-IV project, Ghani remarked, adding that after getting the briefing, their false assumptions should have been negated.

He also asked the PTI MPAs to convince the federal government to release funds for other federally-funded projects in Sindh, including the S-III sewerage treatment project. Ghani claimed that he was already aware of a visit being planned by the opposition legislators to firsthand see the site of the K-IV project and he himself had asked the K-IV project director to arrange a special briefing on the project for the PTI lawmakers.

He said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had earlier chaired a roundtable session to brief the political, social, and business stakeholders of Karachi on reasons behind the cost escalation and delay in the K-IV project.

He maintained that a drive had been launched to purge the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) of the elements who were behind the artificially caused water and sewerage crisis in the city. He said evidence was being collected against such delinquent staffers of the water board.

He added that a similar disciplinary action would also be initiated against those KWSB officials who were responsible for delaying the commissioning of a scheme that would bring an additional 100 million gallons to the daily share of water for the city.

To a question regarding the withdrawal of additional police security available to him, Ghani said the five additional police guards, who had been deployed for his security a couple of days back due to security threats, had been called back.

He said neither had he asked for the provision of additional security nor did

he complain to anyone when the additional police guards available to him were taken back. To another question, he said that by observing a countrywide strike on Saturday without any political support, the traders had expressed that they were not happy with the PTI-led federal government.

The PTI MPAs who visited the K-IV project site on Sunday included Naqvi, Bilal Ghaffar, Arsalan Taj, Jamal Siddiqui, Sidra Imran, Ali Aziz, Dr Sanjay, Ramzan Ghanchi, Riaz Haider, and Adeeba Hasan.

After the visit, Naqvi told media persons that water problems of Karachi would be solved soon after the completion of the K-IV scheme as it would bring additional water to the city. He said the PTI had the mandate of the people of Karachi because they voted for it in the last general elections to resolve the civic issues of Karachi, particularly water scarcity. “We have to find a solution to resolve the issues,” he remarked.

He said that the visit to the K-IV project site was very informative and it also exposed blunders committed by the Sindh government while working on the project. Naqvi alleged that the K-IV project was intentionally delayed by the provincial government.

“We have to complete the project at every cost and it was delayed because of the Sindh government’s enmity towards Karachi,” the PTI leader maintained. He added that there should be one channel for the supply of 650 million gallons of water to the city and for this purpose, the channel should be widened.