Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz, reported Tuesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan would visit Karachi on Friday and would announce new projects for the city.
Addressing a press conference here to inform about the decisions of the federal cabinet, he said the prime minister was very clear that contribution of the federal government for Karachi should be through a coordinated and specific programme.
He said people of Karachi were passing through a difficult time and all our sympathies were with them, adding Karachi was a unique city and an economic hub of the country.The minister said the federal government was doing all, it could for the people of Karachi.There was a time when Karachi was filled with garbage but the PTI representatives got the city cleared, he recalled.He said shortage of water supply, tanker mafia and sewerage and solid waste management were serious issues in the provincial capital.The federal government accepted mandate of the Sindh government and would work in coordination with it and National Disaster Management Authority to resolve problems of the city, he assured.
The minister told that during the cabinet meeting the prime minister issued instructions to the Adviser on Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and PM’s Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Sania Nishtar to begin second phase of Ehsaas Programme to help the poor.
He said Ehsaas programme generated economic activity and supported poor people, adding after the coronavirus, the economy was getting revived and all economic indicators were getting better at a time when economies of the European countries and India were contracting.To a question about recent statement of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, he said Pakistan Muslim League (N) during its years in power mistreated the female leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) and other parties and its leaders should know about their party’s history.
The minister said during the cabinet meeting, the impact of disaster caused by heavy rains in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces also came under discussion.He said the federal government in coordination with the provincial governments was helping the people affected by rains.To another question, Shibli said India was our enemy and never missed an opportunity to harm Pakistan but it would not succeed in its nefarious designs.Opposition would have to decide whether it supported the narrative of Pakistan or India on legislation related to Financial Action Task Force (FATF), he added.
The minister said various names were under consideration for appointing an administrator for Karachi.—APP
