Opposition slams Sindh government in PA for turning Karachi into ruins

Opposition MPAs on Friday criticised the provincial government in the Sindh Assembly for ignoring Karachi and not providing basic facilities to the people of the province. However, legislators from the treasury benches rejected their criticism, saying that the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) victory in the NA-249 by-election had proved that it enjoyed support of the people of Karachi.

A female opposition legislator of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) said that Karachi had been ruined to the extent that it was more appropriate to call it a ‘rickshaw city’ rather than a mega city.

Taking part in the pre-budget discussion in the House, MQM-P’s MPA Rabia Khatoon said it was pitiable that water tankers were still operating in Karachi to sell potable water. The MQM-P lawmaker said people needed potable water but they were compelled to purchase the essential commodity. She added that the government was under an obligation to eliminate the commercial water tanker service in Karachi.

She said that earlier, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and District Municipal Corporations of the city had been held responsible for unattended municipal waste but now, no one assumed the responsibility of tackling that civic issue.

The opposition legislator said Karachi had only one burns centre; however, a burns centre should be established in every district of the province. Another opposition MPA, Dewan Sachal of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), said that instead of merely issuing statements, the Sindh government should take practical steps for the welfare of the poor in the province who had been suffering a lot due to the continuing coronavirus emergency.

He said the government-run schools and hospitals had been in a shambles in Sanghar as much development work had to be done there. Abdul Razzaq Rahimoon, MPA of another opposition party Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), said reverse osmosis (RO) water filtration plants had not been functional in Tharparkar district.

He opined that the natives of Thar would not become the ultimate beneficiaries of the coal-based power plants being constructed there.

The GDA MPA said the people of Thar were skilled persons who should be provided with ample employment opportunities. He claimed in the House that if someone visited the Sindh Secretariat for any work, they were first asked about their political affiliation.

PTI legislator Shahnawaz Jadoon said Karachi was rightly called the heart of Sindh so it should not be treated in an unfair manner. He said the Sindh government had failed to launch a single viable public bus service in the city. Leakage from the sewerage system had been ruining roads in the city, he added.

The PTI MPA further alleged that the Sindh government had failed to provide furniture in the government-run schools. He said the machinery of the RO water filtration plants had been sold off despite the fact that billions of rupees had been spent on the project.

Jadoon said the Keamari area of Karachi had not been receiving waster in accordance with the water quota approved for the locality in the regime of former president Ayub Khan.

Responding to the opposition’s criticism, PPP MPAs said their party’s victory in the NA-249 by-poll in Karachi had proved that the people of Karachi had been acknowledging and appreciating the work of the Sindh government for the development of the city. The ruling party’s legislators said the PPP would emerge victorious again whenever elections were held in Karachi in a transparent manner.

They claimed that the result of the NA-249 by-election had proved that people had no hopes in the present federal government of the PTI as it had done nothing for the development of the city.