KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari has said the government is taking all possible steps to ensure peace and stability in Karachi, which is vital for the economic development of the country.

He vowed that the next elections in the country would be held on time and militants, sectarian elements and anti-democratic forces would not be allowed to subvert the electoral process by creating a law and order situation in the country.

The president expressed these views while addressing a ceremony held at the CM House on Tuesday to inaugurate a number of development projects in various parts of Sindh.

According to a press release, these projects are aimed at improving the infrastructure of the province, and providing health and housing facilities to the people of Sindh who have been adversely affected by floods and rains.

Referring to the law and order situation in Karachi, the president said that by pursuing the reconciliatory approach, the government together with its allied parties and other stakeholders was working for ensuring peace and stability in the city.

The government, he said, was taking all possible steps for lasting peace and stability in Karachi, including strengthening the civilian components of the law enforcing agencies.

The president said the government was about to complete its tenure and added that the next elections in the country would be held on time.

About one of the projects inaugurated on the occasion, the Township Scheme in Karachi, the president said it was a great step forward and commended Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, minister for housing Ayaz Soomro and others in the Benazir Housing Cell for this achievement. The president pledged that the government would continue its forward march on the agenda of socio-economic development and to serve the poor of the country.

He said the present government while pursuing its development agenda in the past five years had accorded top priority to the infrastructure development and provision of basic health and housing facilities for the people. All the projects inaugurated and many more to be completed soon had been undertaken to fulfill the pledges the PPP government had made with the people of the country.

On the occasion, he laid foundation stones of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Expressway from Garho to Shah Bundar, District Headquarters Hospitals Dadu, Emergency Trauma Centres at the taluka level in Badin and Shikarpur, and launched a Township Scheme in Karachi under the Benazir Shaheed Housing Project.

Those present at the inauguration ceremony included Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Zulfikarabad development authority managing director retired Lt-Gen Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, federal and provincial ministers, parliamentarians, MPAs and senior government officials.

According to PPP spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar, the president while laying the foundation stone of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Expressway, commented that the 44-kilometre-long road would contribute to the economic development of the area and the well-being of the people.

He expressed the hope that the project after completion would provide easy access to fishermen on the sides of the Indus river and help in alleviating poverty, development of seafood industry and minimising losses due to lack of storage and transportation facilities.

The president commended the Zulfikarabad Development Authority managing director and his entire team for building this road and expressed confidence that the project would stimulate the local economy by creating jobs and enhancing connectivity.

Inaugurating the newly-constructed buildings of district head quarter hospital in Badin and other health-related facilities in the province, the president said improvement in the health-care facilities at district and grass-roots level was a priority of the government. For this purpose, the president said, the Sindh government had undertaken upgrade of district headquarters and taluka headquarters hospitals in 17 rural districts. An investment of nearly Rs13 billion had been made into these projects, he said.

About the government’s efforts for the provision of health facilities at the grass-roots level, the president said that until recently the state-of-art medical and emergency-cum-trauma care was beyond the reach of the people who had to travel long distances to major cities for availing the facility.

He said that now the people of far-flung areas would have the facilities for medical treatment and trauma rehabilitation at their doorsteps. The president termed the provision of quality medical facilities and emergency-cum-trauma units at district and taluka headquarters hospitals a great improvement in the health-care facilities in the province. He said those hospitals would now have emergency services, dialysis machines, operation theatres, ICUs, recovery rooms, Isolation wards, X-ray and ultrasound facilities besides out-patient services.

According to the spokesperson, the president recalled the distribution of free and low-cost houses among the needy and said housing facilities in the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Township Scheme in Karachi for the destitute families of Sindh was the fulfilment of yet another promise. He said the housing and plot schemes had been launched under the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Housing Programme and held out the assurance that plots would also be provided to deserving families in other parts of Sindh.

On the government’s pro-poor initiatives, the president said poverty alleviation and emancipation of the poor had been the guiding principles of the present democratic government. He remarked: “We are guided by the vision of our visionary leaders Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto in this regard. Roti, Kapra Aur Makan is not merely a slogan; it is a commitment.” He termed the various projects inaugurated on Tuesday a landmark achievement of the government of Sindh.

The president said the government was busy fulfilling the pledges made by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto to provide Roti, Kapra Aur Makan to every citizen, particularly the poor and the needy of the country.

He said the government had set up the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Housing Cell to provide housing and other basic human requirement to the poor. The cell, the president said, had been tasked with building 6,500 low-cost houses in 23 districts to be distributed free to the poor.