Nasir Shah terms federal govt’s Sindh package ‘eyewash’

KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Information and Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has termed Sindh development package announced by prime minister the other day in Sukkur an eyewash and added that all the projects, which are part of the package, are already included in federal budget that have been delayed due to non-allocation of funds.

The Provincial Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah stated this while addressing a press conference along with Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani on Saturday. PPP Karachi Division General Secretary Javed Nagori was also present.

The Minister added that Sukkur –Hyderabad Motorways Project was conceived under CPEC in previous government tenure, Gaaj Dam project was launched in 2013 while schemes of up-grading of passport offices and railway stations in Sindh were already included in federal budget book.

He added that Sindh government was ready to cooperate with federal government on development of Sindh but federal government of PTI never gave concrete programme nor taken them into confidence for development of people of Sindh, PTI was just relying on fake claims and announcements.

The minister said that Sindh government was not formally informed about the prime minister’s visit of Sindh adding that Sindh chief minister would have received prime minister, if Sindh government had been informed officially.

Responding to query on Islands, the Provincial Minister stated that all the development on the twin islands, off Karachi’s coast, should be made with consent of local communities including fishermen.

Sindh government has mentioned this condition in a letter written to federal government but they had promulgated presidential ordinance and made the issue controversial. The ordinance for setting up Island Development Authority was ill-intended and federal government wanted to make island a federal territory.

To another question, recruitment through Sindh Public Service Commission were made on merit. Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sindh government never believed in any ideology based on linguistics.

We have great respect for Urdu speaking community. He added that Sindh chief minister had taken action whenever complaints were raised on the process of recruitment through Sindh Public Service Commission. Sindh government has spent billions of rupees on the development in those areas where PPP has lost the elections. He said those people were raising objection on the results of SPSC , who had advised people of Karachi and Hyderabad to buy arms by selling tv sets. Their (MQM) politics is based on playing with the emotions of the people. Provincial Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that PPP has always persuaded the policy of reconciliation. But we have faced politics of hypocrisy.

The provincial minister said that government’s responsibility is to built national assets and protect them but everyone knew what the present federal government has done to the national assets. What they have done with SBP and with the steel mills. On the reshuffle in federal cabinet, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that Shoukat Tareen induction into the incompetent PTI’s cabinet could not make any difference or improve the economy of country.