Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah Thursday lamented that Supreme Court in its suo motu hearing of the Abbas Town tragedy did not hear opinion of the Sindh government.
Thursday’s sitting of the Sindh Assembly also saw the chief minister flaying a private TV channel for misinforming the viewers about the carnage in the city.
In his statement, Shah said the apex court had made the verdict without hearing government’s views on the ongoing unrest in the metropolis, particularly Sunday’s bloodshed near Abbas Town.
He claimed the police had reached the spot within minutes after the explosion, but it was forcefully stopped to enter the explosion site. Instead, he said, a DSP and other officers were badly beaten up there. “Three Rangers and three police personnel were murdered after the explosion,” he said, adding his government was very much alive to the issue. Despite the severity of situation in the wake of blast and charged atmosphere, he said the police contingent remained present there to help the public come out of the debris and reach hospitals.
No one asked the American government to step down after the world largest terrorist attack reduced twin towers to ashes, he said, adding why people have begun demanding of the Sindh government to resign.
After such acts of terrorism, he said, the governments always take actions against the perpetrators which it was doing. Citing his meeting on settling NFC award in Peshawar, he said a powerful blast in the city killed over 115 people but none asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to resign.
The Supreme Court should have listened to the Sindh government on the recent terrorisms in the city, he said, adding the justice should be done merit on and without making up one’s mind. “It is disheartening,” he added.
He said a TV channel was maligning the government and destabilising the process. “Public still supports the ruling PPP. We are taking the issue seriously. Just be patient,” the CM demanded.
The chief minister said he was going to unfold the five-year report during the Friday’s sitting to let the masses know of his government’s performance.
To an earlier question by the PPP, Jam Tamachi Unar on a news item that Wapda would recover the dues of last several years from the consumers through NAB, he said the bills were always inflated and fake.
Tamachi requested the chief minister to set up a committee to protect the poor electricity consumers from the wrath of NAB and Wapda. He suggested that government should evolve a mechanism to facilitate the consumers to pay their bills in instalments without being harassed by the authorities.
Shah said Wapda also charged inflated bills from the Sindh government to the tune of over Rs 20 billions. However, after the concerned department approached the federal government on the issue, the amount was reduced to mere Rs 3.5 billion, he added.
He informed the house that complaints from consumers on the issue had reached his office and he was concerned over the said issue.
The house also unanimously passed the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto City University Bill 2013 into law. However, the house deferred consideration of the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Human Resource Research and Development Board Bill 2013 till Friday on the request of MQM’s member, Syed Sardar Ahmed.
Assembly Speaker Nisar Khuhro announced that the governor had assented to 10 bills including the Sindh Higher Education Commission Bill 2013, the Sindh Public Procurement (Amendment) 2013, the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Bill 2013 and the Dawood University of Engineering and Technology Bill 2013, the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Law, Karachi 2012, the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Deewan University Bill 2011, the Qalandar Shahbaz University of Modern Sciences Bill 2013, the Sindh Revenue Board (Amendment) Bill 2012, the Sindh Arms Bill 2013 and the Hyderabad Institute of Arts, Sciences and Technology Bill, 2013. A report of the committee on rules of procedures and privileges was presented in the house.
