Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Wednesday said that the federal government will remove Sindh government’s concerns about the Bundal and Buddo islands. Talking to journalists, Imran Ismail said that the Sindh government will be the ultimate beneficiary if the federal government builds new cities on the twin islands. Revenue generated from the islands will be handed over to the provincial government, he added. “We will not shift the islands to Islamabad,” the governor added. Imran Ismail said that he will discuss the issue with the Sindh chief minister. Responding to a question, Imran Ismail warned that the Sindh government will be responsible if Coronavirus resurges in Karachi after the PDM’s public meeting in the metropolis. Earlier on Wednesday, Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah had said that the province had never issued NOC to the federal government over Bundal and Buddo islands ownership. Talking to newsmen in Jacoababad, the CM Sindh had said that the federal government had sought our permission for the development of the islands. Sindh had never issued NOC into the matter, Shah had said and added that they asked the federal government what kind of development they want to carry out at the islands. “We will never hold talks over the Pakistan Islands Development Authority Ordinance 2020.” At a press conference last week, the representatives of the provincial government said the Sindh cabinet had decided not to hold any further discussion with the Centre regarding the development of the islands. Sindh government’s spokesman Murtaza Wahab said the provincial government had showed willingness to the proposal “in good faith” and for the progress of the local residents. But, he added, the Centre attacked the rights of Sindh and Balochistan by issuing this ordinance without any consultation and showed ownership of something which was not theirs. He said the ordinance, published in the Gazette on Sept 2, was made public in the first week of October which, he alleged, showed the federal government’s “ill-intent”. He also disclosed that a letter addressed to the federal government regarding the proposal for the islands’ development had also been withdrawn by the Sindh cabinet.
