Saeed Ghani refuses to comment on mayor’s performance

Sindh Information Minister Saeed Ghani has said he will not to comment on the performance of Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar as this will open a Pandora’s Box.

“Do not ask this question,” Ghani said as The News asked him on Sunday about the mayor’s performance. He asserted that Akhtar was enjoying all the powers under the Sindh Local Government Act 2013.

To a question about garbage that was lying unattended in the city despite Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah’s promise that the solid waste issue of Karachi would be resolved, Ghani replied that the Sindh government had promised to clear the backlog of garbage, which it did and now it was the responsibility of District Municipal Corporations (DMCs) to dispose of garbage.

The DMCs, not the Sindh government, should be held responsible for not lifting garbage, he said. Answering a question about deaths due to dog bite, he said it was a serious issue but the Sindh government was unable to import the anti-rabies vaccine as only the federal government could import it.

Regarding the local government elections, the information minister said they were due in August next year and there was a lot of time ahead of them. He alleged that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had been trying to intimidate him and his staff but we are not afraid.

Ghani also criticised the federal government, saying it had adopted vengeful tactics against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The ‘selected’ prime minister is using all resources to victimise political leaders, he claimed.

He lamented that despite no reference filed against them, PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and veteran leader of the party Khursheed Shah were arrested just for investigations. He said it seemed the law was not equal for the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders.

He recalled that when NAB filed a reference against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he was not immediately arrested. He said Nawaz taken into custody once he was convicted.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is not aware of the fact that the PPP is a resilient party and can withstand any political pressure, Ghani remarked. He said Zardari was not being provided his personal doctor for medical treatment and this was a height of political victimisation.

Commenting on the economic policies of the federal government, he said Centre had caused a great escalation in the prices of essential commodities and thousands of people had been rendered jobless because of its policies.

Zardari will never apply for bail, Ghani claimed. He said not a single case had so far been filed against the PPP co-chairperson.

The information minister said NAB had filed a reference against Hasnain Mirza, son of Federal Minister Fehmida Mirza, but he was not arrested. There are many references made by NAB against PTI leaders but none of them has been arrested, he remarked.