It appears that the reconciliation efforts between Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) are not heading in the right direction as the PPP-led Sindh government formally took over the administrative control of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) on Tuesday by appointing Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani as the CDGK caretaker.
“Until the formation of City District Council the local government minister will look after the [city government] affairs and control the CDGK,” announced Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah at a high-level meeting at Chief Minister’s House regarding performance and problems of CDGK.
The MQM had been looking after the administrative affairs of the CDGK through the party’s ministers, especially Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad and leader Raza Haroon, indirectly since the end of tenure of MQM-backed nazim Mustafa Kamal in 2010.
It was for the first time after MQM’s departure from the government that the chief minister convened a high-level meeting on CDGK affairs.
While discussing various issues and problems being faced by the CDGK, Shah formed a committee, headed by the local government minister and comprising Sindh Local Government Secretary, Planning and Development (P&D) Additional Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary, to discuss and finalise the issues within a period of one week and prioritise the schemes for implementation.
According to an official handout, the provincial chief minister maintained that the government wants to work for the development of Karachi and has allocated a huge amount of Rs 5.4 billion for special packages and other developmental schemes of Karachi with an overall allocation for CDGK’s schemes of Rs 16 billion in the current financial year.
He directed the officials that projects with a time frame of two to three years be prepared and estimates of such schemes be approved, for which the provincial Finance Department will release funds. He made it clear that the government will not provide additional funds as such estimates shall be final till the completion of the project. In this regard, the Karachi DCO will give an undertaking to this effect.
Shah said there are numerous mega schemes that are to be prioritised and P&D Additional Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary will clear them for the release of funds. The provincial government will release 50 percent funds in the July while the remaining 50 percent funds will be released in December.
Regarding appointment of teachers in CDGK-run schools, the chief minister maintained that the appointment process will be transparent as per the World Bank’s requirement and purely on merit through a reputed institution while there will be no government interference.
The chief minister directed the city administrator and DCO to pay full attention towards health services and enhancement of enrolment in educational institutions of CDGK. He added that he will pay visits to hospitals, educational institutions and other schemes being run by CDGK to ascertain the facilities being provided to the people.
Shah informed that China and other countries have offered participation in many developmental schemes in Sindh. Many schemes will be initiated in Karachi so that all areas of Karachi are taken care of.
He ordered that two hospitals be established by CDGK in Gadap and Bin Qasim areas while a health centre set up at Sohrab Goth to cater people from a vast area without health facilities.
The meeting was also attended by Sindh Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, Adviser to Chief Minister on Planning and Development Kaiser Bengali, Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas, P&D Additional Chief Secretary Ishaque Lashari, Karachi DCO Hussain Syed, Sindh Finance Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch and Secretary to Chief Minister Hafeezullah Abbasi among others.
Sensible decision made by the incumbent government.
Although the MQM propagandists with the help of servile media have been projecting Mustafa Kamal as Ata Turk of Karachi and they have been showing construction of flyovers and some roads as their greatest achievements. The fact was on the contrary. The flyovers were ill planned and rickety and did not match international standards. Billions of rupees were spent by the then Nazim Mustafa Kamal but the PPP governemnt had no guts to get the accounts of CDGK audited. Mustafa Kamal played havoc with old traditional sindhi 'goths' in the name of beautification of Karachi. The performance of the CDGK during monsoon rains was dismal. The sewerage system was overflowing.
If the fair and free elections are held the number of the seats won by MQM is bound to decrease because the constituencies were changed and manipulated in such a way that it would benefit MQM.
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