Zaidi reiterates commitment to fully cleanse metropolis from garbage
Staff Reporter
Karachi
Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Syed Ali Hyder Zaidi, while appreciating the immense participation of the business community, Public, KMC, DMCs and Sindh government in Federal government’s ‘Clean Karachi Campaign’, reiterated his commitment to completely cleanse Karachi from garbage and devise strategies to ensure cleanliness all over the city on regular basis.
Speaking at a meeting during his visit to Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) on Saturday, he added that Sindh government, Karachi Municipal Corporation and all District Municipal Corporations have become part of Clean Karachi Campaign in which the first phase to cleanse all the Nullahs has been completed while the second phase will also start soon in which garbage lying at the dumpsters all over the city including parks will be cleared. Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, Vice Chairman BMG Zubair Motiwala, General Secretary BMG AQ Khalil, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda, Senior Vice President KCCI Khurram Shahzad, Former Presidents Majyd Aziz and Younus Muhammad Bashir, Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shallwani along with KCCI Managing Committee members were also present at the meeting.
“In order to create a better and civilized society, we, instead of blaming others for the disaster, should look at what we are doing which if we really do, would certainly create a much better society”, he stressed. He also sought peoples’ help to take photos and film those who throw litter on public places and upload them on social media to expose these elements. Such elements should be ashamed of their act and this campaign be titled as ‘Name and Shame’. Ali Zaidi pointed out that out of a total garbage of 14,000 tons, most of garbage was ending up by ultimately landing in the sea which has created a disastrous situation at the seashores. This garbage at Keemari has now reached Hawks Bay and may further go all the way to Port Qasim beach as well. He particularly appreciated Mayor Karachi Waseem Akhtar and Sindh Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah for extending their full support and cooperation to Clean Karachi Campaign. “All of us will have to work jointly and take the ownership of Karachi city in order to improve the cleanliness conditions. Situation will only change if all of us will come forward to take the ownership of our city”, he added. In response to KCCI’s suggestion, the Minister agreed to form a committee of all fourteen MNAs of PTI elected from Karachi who will be tasked to hold regular interaction with Karachi Chamber so that the issues being faced by the city could be discussed in detail. To a question, he informed that the new Shipping Policy, which has already been approved, will be announced in a week at a press conference.
This new Shipping Policy addresses many issues currently being suffered by the business and industrial community, he added. Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, while appreciating Ali Zaidi for undertaking the desperately needed cleanliness campaign in Karachi, stressed that this cleanliness must not stop halfway and continue till the entire city is completely cleansed from the garbage while an effective system must also devise to ensure cleanliness across Karachi on regular basis. Siraj Teli announced that the Karachi Chamber will contribute a sum of Rs10 million to the kitty established for Clean Karachi campaign while the bank account details for this particular campaign will also be publicized by KCCI through its monthly publication. “Moreover, KCCI’s members will also be requested on your behalf and also on our behalf to contribute generously towards this cause of completely cleansing Karachi from the garbage. We would like to monetarily and humanly support your campaign”, he added. Referring to the human support being committed by KCCI, he informed that Karachi city currently has a total of 120 police stations and under KCCI’s Police Chamber Liaison Committee (PCLC), two representatives of Karachi Chamber are nominated for every police station of the city, who are purely businessmen and are well-acquainted with their respective areas.
This human force, which was available at every nook and corner of Karachi, can be provided to Federal Minister for his cleanliness campaign in order to make it successful. He further commented that every political party during its tenure extracted maximum revenue from Karachi which contributes more than 70 percent revenue to the national exchequer but none of them bothered to do anything for this city. “There was a time when all three major political parties of Karachi assumed control of the government and we felt that now they will pay some attention to the issues of Karachi but unfortunately, during that era, Karachi suffered a lot of devastation” he added and urged that the city, which gives votes to come into power, must get something in return. Referring to some previous meetings with Chairman PTI Imran Khan particularly a meeting held on July 22, 2018 before being elected as Prime Minister, Chairman BMG said that although the government has made some compromises after assuming charge of the country’s affairs as compared to their claims and commitments given before the election yet the business & industrial community still has high hopes from PM Imran Khan who is on track but the government should not make those compromises that may create problems in the long term.
In order to efficiently deal with the issues of Karachi which is spread on a huge area of 3500 square kilometers with a huge population of around 22 million, Siraj Teli suggested that all fourteen Ministers of PTI who were elected from Karachi must take similar initiatives in their respective areas as done by Ali Zaidi which may result in awakening the Sindh government and they may also start taking those steps which were in favor of Karachi. “Every single step either taken by the federal government or Sindh government for the betterment of and in favor of Karachi will be fully supported by KCCI”, he added but cautioned that any retreat from the task to completely cleanse Karachi from garbage was going to receive a lot of criticism from Karachi Chamber. Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chairman BMG Zubair Motiwala suggested to form a committee comprising all the fourteen Ministers of PTI government from Karachi and the proposed committee must hold regular meetings with Karachi Chamber either once a month or once in two months so that KCCI could well-acquaint them about the issues of Karachi which would surely enable them to efficiently advocate and debate on the issues of Karachi at National Assembly’s sessions.
Commenting on the massive garbage being generated in Karachi city, he suggested that in order to get rid of this huge garbage, the government must look into the possibility of utilizing it for power generation as being successfully done in some of the most developed countries around the world. In this regard, numerous feasibility studies had been completed in the past for establishing two such power plants at both sides of the city which will be capable of producing 700 megawatts.
