Sindh Governor Imran Ismail has said the Prime Minister Imran Khan has signed a summary under which the Pakistan Army, NDMA and Frontier Works Organization have developed a comprehensive strategy for short-term and long-term issues related to rain and waste problems in Karachi. He said the PM is very much concerned about Karachi and wants Pakistan’s economic hub to emerge as an international city and be called the city of lights again. “We will propose short-term measures and they will be implemented through the same agencies for which the Government of Sindh is also expected to cooperate as this city belongs to all of us and this initiative of the Prime Minister is aimed at providing relief to the citizens of Karachi.”۔ He expressed these views while addressing an important press conference at the Governor House. Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar, Members Provincial Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Haleem Adil Sheikh, Jamal Siddiqui, Aziz GG, Khurram Sher Zaman were also present on the occasion. “Instead of blaming each other, we should work together to solve the city’s problems as soon as possible,” he said. The Governor said that work for the city would be done in three phases. In the first phase, the waste from the drains will be transported to the landfill sites, in the second phase, the closed drains will be opened, while in the third phase, disinfectant spraying will be done in the city. He said that it was good news for the people of Karachi that there would be no problem of funding in this regard and the Prime Minister wanted this work to be completed at all circumstances. The governor said that the Prime Minister called him to Islamabad and discussed the Karachi issue in detail and asked about the causes of the problems there and their possible solutions while the issues of Karachi were also discussed in the meeting of the Federal Cabinet for an hour. “Because the Prime Minister of Pakistan does not want to leave Karachi alone under any circumstances, he is with the people of Karachi because he was also elected by the people of Karachi.” He said that people of all languages live in Quaid-e-Azam’s city. It has the status of mini-Pakistan. “We want to make it a clean city where there are no piles of garbage and rubbish but it looks like an international style city. They are ready to go to any lengths.” He said that he wanted the Chief Minister of Sindh to join him. Even today I have called him and said this while he wants the Local Government Minister to also take part in this work. He said that a meeting has been held with the Chairman NDMA, Mayor Karachi and other members of the Assembly while another meeting will be held on Friday in which the issues of Karachi will be discussed. He said that the Prime Minister directed the elected members of the Assembly to be present on the ground and monitor the work so that relief could be provided to the citizens as soon as possible. He said that a request has been made to the Sindh government to provide land for the Prime Minister’s New Pakistan Housing Project.
