-Shah says fed govt not serious in running constitutional bodies
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the federal government was not serious in running the constitutional bodies which was evident from the fact that the prime minister left the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting without getting the PSDP approved and the next day the national media carried the news that the PSDP was approved.
Addressing a press conference at the committee room of Old Assembly Building, the chief minister said that the NEC was a 13-member constitutional body headed by the prime minister and constitutionally it has to meet twice in a year. It was the first meeting of the year and the next meeting has to be convened.
Shah said that the federal government presented a five-year plan in the NEC meeting and with its presentation, the prime minister loudly said approved. “At this, I told him that neither the plan has been shared with the province and nor comments or suggestions have been heard in the meeting how it could be approved,” he said and added that how the national issues were being handled at the federal level.
Shah recalled that he had written a letter to the prime minister with the request to directed NHA to expedite work on Rs14 billion dualisation of Jasmhoro-Sehwan road for which provincial government has already released its Rs7 billion share to NHA. The prime minister directed his state Minister Murad Saeed to settle the issue. When Murad Saeed came to Karachi he told me to meet him in Governor’s House. “I told him to come to the CM House but he did not bother to visit CM House and then he was promoted as full-fledged minister,” he said.
Talking about the Karachi Circular Railways, the chief minister said that the railways authority has given undertaking to the Supreme Court that they would start local train within 15 days. Contrary to it the railways minister was saying that the Sindh government would operate the local train.
“The railway is a federal subject and in the past it was the railways ministry which used to operate local train in the city,” he recalled and questioned that the provincial government has bogies and engines how it would operate local train.
Shah said the provincial government had been pressing the federal government to award the same concessions to KCR which it had given to Orange line in Lahore. “We are ready to launch KCR project as it was approved in CPEC projects but due to federal government’s reluctance it is still hanging in balance,” he lamented.
Talking about MQM-P Ministers, the chief minister said that Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui were misguiding the prime minister on legal and constitutional issues. He said that not a single penny in Karachi package has been released so far. “These nafees representatives of Karachi were deceiving their constituents,” he said.
The chief minister said that the 12 five year plan has set a target of five percent average annual growth but “I don’t think they will be able to achieve the target but I think they will not be able to achieve 4 percent target,” he said and added “this is because the prime minister do not meet with the stake holders such as provincial governments, traders, businessmen, industrialists to seek their input.
