If elected, our mayor to address water shortage, drainage issues in city: Hafiz Naeem

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has assured Karachi’s residents that the JI’s candidate for the city’s mayorship, if elected, would resume the journey of progress and development from the same point where it was discontinued at the culmination of Naimatullah Khan’s tenure.

He said this while interacting with residents amid during his election campaign in his union council. During the day, Rehman visited various neighborhoods, inaugurated election offices, and addressed receptions and corner meetings.

Speaking at a reception, he said the JI had received an overwhelming response during the campaign for the upcoming local bodies elections, as political workers, belonging to various political parties, had assured the JI of their votes and support.

He hoped that the JI would restore the glory of the city of lights. He added that the most critical and chronic issue of the city was a water supply. He maintained that the K3 water supply project was completed by Naimatullah Khan and now the K4 water supply project would also be completed by the JI’s mayor in Karachi.

He said Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah claimed that leakage of water was a big problem for the water supply system. He “corrected the chief minister” by saying that theft not leakage was the main issue for the water supply project.

Rehman added that similarly, the sewerage and drainage system had also collapsed in the megalopolis, and the JI had also taken experts on board to address the issue. The JI leader said political parties having dozens of MPAs and MNAs did nothing for the city because of the lack of political will. The parties would make no difference if provided with local governments because of the same reason — the lack of political will, he remarked.

Citing the fact that Karachi had contributed Rs1.6 trillion in taxes this year, showing a whopping 42 per cent year on year increase, he said that unfortunately both the federal and provincial governments neglected Karachi despite its enormous contribution to the finances of both the regimes.

A day earlier, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman had announced that over one million residents of the city would be approached through telephone calls and asked to vote for Tarazu (weighing scales) for the sake of Karachi in the local government elections on July 24.

“The JI is in contact with political workers belonging to all parties and has received an overwhelming response,” he had said while addressing a press conference at the Idara Noor-e-Haq.

He requested the overseas Pakistanis to become part of the election campaign. “One million Karachiites will be approached through telephone calls in the next five days, and July 24 would be regarded as a game changer in the history of the megalopolis,” he said.

Rehman said the majority of political workers in the city wanted to vote for the JI in the local government polls for the city's development. If elected, the JI's mayor would continue the journey of progress and development from the same point where it ended after the mayoral tenure of Naimatullah Khan around 17 years ago.

The JI leader lambasted the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) over its “overwhelming support” for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), adding that there were significant flaws in the voter lists. At least 40 per cent of voters and their addresses mentioned in the list did not even match, resulting in confusion and difficulties when it came to polling.

“A political administrator in the city was itself tantamount to pre-poll rigging, but the ECP did not play a role in this regard which shows that the commission is providing leverage to the PPP.” Rehman said that some political parties were trying to escape as they would fail miserably in the LG elections. He also asked political parties to abide by democratic norms and values as differences in opinions should be brought forward but in a decent manner.