JI leader asks railways minister where he spent Rs300 million on KCR

The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Friday expressed reservations over the decisions taken at the Karachi Transformation Plan (KTP) meeting held in Islamabad with Prime Minister Imran Khan in chair.

Addressing a news conference at the Idara Noor-e-Haq, JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said that a local train was run in the guise of revamping the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR).

He added that people were being decieved by the Rs1,100 billion Karachi development package and Green Line Bus Rapid Transit system. He asked if Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid could answer where the Rs300 million had been spent on the KCR project as no preliminary repair work had been started on junctions, level crossings and ticket booths and no encroachments removed along the KCR track.

On the other hand, the federal and Sindh governments had put key projects like the Greater Karachi Water Supply Scheme (K-IV) and Greater Karachi Sewerage Plan (S-III) on the back burner, he said.

The JI chief said the Sindh government had also failed to deliver and the current multifaceted civic issues in Sindh, especially Karachi, were evidence of its failure. He demanded of the provincial government to abolish the Sindh Local Government Act, introduce a new local body system, and carry out development works in Karachi focusing on improvement in potable water supply, sewerage system and infrastructure .

He said the Rs1,200 billion corona package and photo sessions of ministers on the site of nullahs’ desilting project was a phony play on part of the rulers. It was the responsibility of the federal and Sindh governments to inform the people of Karachi about the development projects and their deadlines, he added.