Federal, Sindh govts not serious about KCR revival, says mayor

Neither the provincial nor federal government, according to Mayor Karachi Wasim Akhtar, seems serious in the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR).

The land control in Karachi was 60 percent with the federal government and 30 percent with the provincial government and therefore, he said, it was the responsibility of both the governments to take part in the cleanliness and development work.

The mayor was addressing members of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Tuesday, and asked senior journalists and anchors to come and see how the port city was being treated.

No one owned Karachi and the people had become hopeless, the only hope was with the business community and industrialists who could use their influence to resolve the issues. “No country or city can progress unless the third tier of the government is made powerful. The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) should get a share from the import taxes,” he said.

The Governor House received a billion rupees for the city’s fire brigade department two months ago, however, no improvement could be observed in the department, adding that garbage was a big issue in the city and they were fully cooperating in the cleanliness drive initiated by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. He said local revenues were withheld by the Sindh government or given to the districts.

The prime minister had promised to give Rs25billion package for Karachi and since then six months had passed and now it should be implemented without any further delay. The president of the FPCCI, Daroo Khan Achakzai and former president S M Munir also spoke on this occasion.