Federal govt’s committees won’t solve Karachi’s issues: mayor

The issues of Karachi need immediate solutions and the committees formed by the federal government for the city are not likely to yield fruitful results.

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar said this while talking to media persons on Wednesday during his visit to Mazar-e-Quaid on the occasion of the death anniversary of the father of the nation.

He said since the past six months, he had been speaking up for the rights of Karachi. “If not the Sindh government, at least the federal government should step forward and seriously resolve the issues of Karachi,” he said and lamented that he had not observed any seriousness from any quarter regarding the resolution of the problems of Karachi.

Karachi Deputy Mayor Syed Arshad Hasan, District Municipal Corporation (DMC) Central Chairman Rehan Hashmi, MQM-P parliamentary leader in City Council Aslam Shah Afridi and others were with the mayor during the talk.

Akhtar laid a floral wreath on the grave of Quaid-e-Azam and wrote his observations in the visitor’s book. He said he had so far had two to three meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet members, in which he had highlighted those issues of Karachi which needed immediate attention and funds.

“Those funds could be spent by anyone, but we know the priorities such as sewage, garbage, transport and roads,” he said. If the federal government was thinking of issuing grants after the local government elections for the new mayor of the city, Akhtar said, the grant which the Centre would issue today would be matured by the time when the city would have a new mayor.

“Those grants will be in the hands of the new mayor,” he said and added that the federal government should also come out of petty politics. He requested the PM to pay a visit to Karachi and provide funds for the city. He was of the view that forming committees could not be a short-term solution for the city’s problems as they needed immediate solutions. “Today, Karachi is in ICU and needs immediate treatment.”

According to the mayor, everyone knew about the problems being faced by the citizens of Karachi. “We need resources to resolve them,” he remarked, adding that if the federal government was waiting for the next local government elections, it was not the right strategy as the resources that were provided today would take a year time to be utilised.

He said the present local government system had completely failed as the local bodies had been given no authority. For the betterment of the city, he said he had been asking for amendments in the local government laws for which he had also called for the federal government’s interference.