SUKKUR/LARKANA: Federal Minister for Plann­ing, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has vowed that the federal government will soon announce Karachi-like development packages for other cities of Sindh.

During his interaction with media personnel in Sukkur and Larkana on Saturday, Mr Umar held the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) government in Sindh responsible for problems of the province.

Speaking at a workers’ convention titled ‘Youth of Sukkur’ and later to reporters at Jatoi House in Sukkur, he severely criticised the leaderships of the PPP and other opposition parties, saying that they had no interest in solving problems of the people.

He said the PPP provincial government had completely failed in developing Sukkur and other cities of the province.

Holds provincial govt responsible for problems

He blamed Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah for high price of wheat flour in the province.

He criticised the opposition parties for what he called their non-seriousness towards the real issues of the people. He claimed the PTI government wanted to sit with the opposition for finding ways to solve the problems of the people, but the opposition parties were not ready to talk about the real issues of the people.

He said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government was working for development of all districts of Sindh, including Sukkur.

Mr Umar said the federal government was fully aware of problems being faced by the people of Sindh, adding that it would execute federal-funded development projects in the province.

The federal minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan was deeply concerned about the rising inflation in the country and he would soon take important decisions to control it.

He said the prime minister wanted to provide equal opportunities to the people of all parts of the country and for the purpose he had planned many initiatives. PM Khan and his team were working to make this country secure and its people prosperous, he added.

He said the prime minister had announced a development package for nine districts of Balochistan. Imran Khan was not the leader of only Punjabis, Pakhtuns, Sindhis, Balochs or Mohajirs, instead he was the leader of every Pakistani and he would work for all of them, he explained.

Mr Umar said that Pakistan’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic had been appreciated globally. He cautioned the people that cases of coronavirus were rising in the country, urging them to follow the government’s prescribed SOPs (standard operating procedures) to prevent the spread of the second wave of the virus in the country.

The federal minister said the government was making all-out efforts to protect the people from the virus and save their livelihoods from its impact.

He said the government had a plan to make Pakistan Steel Mills functional and federal Minister for Pri­vatisation Mohammadmian Soomro was working on this plan. The government would increase its capacity of production which would provide employment opportunities to the people.

Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi, members of the provincial assembly Sidra Imran, Bilal Ghaffar, Arsalan Taj, Shahzad Qureshi, Dr Sanjay Gangwani, Mehmood Moulvi, Mubeen Jatoi and others were present on the occasion.

Also speaking at some gatherings in Larkana, Mr Umar again criticised the opposition parties and said that the leaders of these parties had joined hands to pressurise Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He criticised the PPP provincial government, saying that it did nothing for Larkana.

Despite billions of rupees had been allocated for Larkana, the city was in a very bad condition, he said, adding that no major development project was launched by the provincial government for the city.

He claimed that there was a political stagnation in Sindh, adding that for breaking this political stagnation all political parties should support the prime minister’s vision.

He said PM Khan would soon visit Sindh and himself announce development projects for the city.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2020