KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the federal government decision to handover three hospitals, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Institute (JPMC), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and National Institute of Child Health (NICH) to provincial government was a testament of his narrative.
“I have been saying since long that the provincial government is capable enough to run three hospitals, JPMC, NICVD and NICH and today my narrative has come true for certain reasons such as we have inversted tremendously in these three hospitals and have made them best of the health facilities in the country,” he said.
Mr Shah said that the federal government could run them and the claims made by some over-ambitious `responsible people’ who were busy in the formation of the board of directors of JPMC have now proved to be a bubble of hot air.
This he said on Monday while talking to media just after offering condolence for senior politician and leader of fishermen, Haji Shafi Jamote with his family members here at Ibrahim Hyderi. He was accompanied by Provincial Minister Saeed Ghani and Advisor on Information Murtaza Wahab.
He said that the satellites of NICVD were also providing best of services in different districts and now “we are planning to establish the satellites of NICH in different districts of the province,” he said.
Replying to a question, Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the purpose of convening conference on water projects of Karachi was to seek the support of all stakeholders but “I am surprised just after the meeting a few friends told media contrary to their arguments in the meeting.” He added that it was agreed in the meeting that there would be no politics on the genuine issues of the city and we all would be working together.
He said that the water projects such as K-IV could not be completed without the support of the federal government. “We have to get it approved as received PC-I from the federal government, we have to get funds from the center and we have to approve additional water for the city from the federal government, therefore we all have to work together to serve the people,” he said.
To a question about Orange Line, Mr Shah conceded that it has been delayed but it was a small project of over five kilometers and would be completed very soon and it would start working along with Green Line. “These both projects, Green Line and Orange Line are interlinked, therefore with the start of Green Line project, Orange line would be launched,” he said.
He said that the federal government was not serious in completing the Green Line project, they have allocated around 20 to 25 percent of the total required funds. “This shows that they do not want to complete it during the current financial year,” he observed.
Talking about the Red Line project, the chief minister said that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan for the project. The Sindh government has signed a loan agreement with World Bank for Yellow line and now the project was lying in ECNEC for final approval to start it. “Inshallah we would start work on Red Line and Yellow Line and their work would be completed within 18 months,” he said.
To another question, he said he did not know the Governor of State Bank but the bosses who have brought him here were opposed to Amnesty Scheme. “This was a decision of the federal government and what they have achieved out of it should be asked to them,” he said. He added that he was only concerned about the revenue recovery targets set by the federal government. “I am sure they won’t be able to achieve them [targets] and at the end of the day the our provinces would suffer again,” he said.
Judicial Commission:
Talking about the video leaked by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister said that it must be investigated not less than a high-power judicial commission. “This is a very serious issue and must be taken seriously, otherwise it would cause an unrepairable loss to the body politic of the country.”
