President asks federal, Sindh govts and mayor to work together for Karachi

Only a collaboration among the federal government, Sindh government and Karachi mayor can bring improvement in the civic condition of Karachi.

President of Pakistan Dr Arif Alvi said this on Saturday as he addressed the inauguration ceremony of the two-day Children’s Festival at the Governor House and later discussed the problems of Karachi with media persons.

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and other leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf were also present on the occasion.

“The problems of Karachi will remain unresolved till the time we start working together,” said the president. He called on the Sindh government to work with the Centre and local bodies in Karachi to address the problems of sanitation in the city.

All the citizens of Sindh were under an obligation to play their due part in the cleanliness drive, Dr Alvi said. “Everyone is under the obligation to stop piling up garbage.”

He said the present situation of garbage in Karachi had been persisting due to the negligence of the authorities during last 25 years. Everyone is required to work together while leaving all their differences to improve the city’s condition, he added.

The president also raised concern over the discharge of wastewater into the sea. He said all the relevant agencies were required to work together to resolve such issues.

Regarding the Children’s Festival at the Governor House, Dr Alvi said the event was being held to train the children of Karachi to take care of the city’s environment.

He said if children were taught about environment-friendly actions, they were likely to do such actions in their later years.

He also remarked that the office of the president of the country did not belong to any one political party.

Dr Alvi praised Prime Minister Imran Khan for his address at the United Nation’s (UN) General Assembly in which he raised the issues of environment, blasphemy, money laundering and atrocities in the Indian-held Kashmir so that the UN could take action on these fronts.

He also lauded the PM for highlighting the need for a uniform standard of justice for both the rich and poor countries.

The president said the economy of the country had been showing improvement as the number of tax filers in the country had increased. The World Bank had also acknowledged the improvement in six areas related to the ‘ease of doing business’ in the country, he remarked.

Commenting on the accountability drive in the country, the president defended the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). “So much money has been stolen. The work of NAB should be seen in this regard,” he said, adding that the stolen wealth of the country should be returned back.