KARACHI: Mayor Wasim Akhtar on Monday said the people of the city were facing “criminal negligence” of the Pakistan Peoples Party for the last four years as the rulers having feudal mentality did not want an empowered local government set-up.

“The Sindh government considered Karachi an ATM and it now wants to further divide the city,” he said, urging the people of Karachi to unite for the sake of their city by keeping their political differences aside.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Akhtar said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had sent the National Disaster Management Authority to Karachi but now he would request the PM to come himself.

Deputy Mayor Arshad Hassan, Parliamen­tary Leader in City Council Aslam Afridi, chairmen of City Council’s different committees and heads of KMC’s departments were also present.

Takes credit for making KMC’s departments ‘functional’ in his four-year term

The mayor said that the people of Karachi were facing severe crises, adding that he had made functional all the departments under KMC control during the last four years.

Briefing about the uplift works carried out by the KMC during his tenure from 2016 to 2020, he said that it was the right of Karachiites to know the details of resources of the department.

“We assumed office when majority of departments were dysfunctional but we didn’t give up and kept struggling for the betterment of the city. We had made most of the departments functional to facilitate the citizens,” he added.

Urges SC to take up his petition

The mayor said that he had filed a petition in the apex court regarding empowerment of the local governments, requesting the judiciary to take it up as solution of the city’s issues lay in empowered local governments.

He said that he had written many letters to authorities concerned during his tenure and raised voice for the city but to no avail.

He said that he had fought for amendments in the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 and that’s the reason the authorities paid some sort of attention to issues of Karachi.

“Karachi had got nominal funds and that too because of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and the city deserves more than that. I had been sending proposals of schemes for Karachi to the Sindh government to include the same in provincial ADP [annual development programme] but none was incorporated. Isn’t it Karachi enmity?” he asked.

Giving details of funds the KMC got for drains’ cleaning, the mayor said that he got only Rs500 million once and that too on the directives of the Supreme Court.

“Drains of Karachi cannot be cleaned until there is a proper garbage lifting system,” he said and added that Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah himself admitted that the KMC was not empowered.

Says creation of Keamari district illegal

The mayor said that the creation of Keamari district was illegal as the people as well as local government representatives were not taken on board.

He said that every other big city in Pakistan had one district but there were many districts in Karachi, adding that the provincial government had experimented by creating Malir and Korangi district and it should not repeat the mistake.

“People of Karachi are politically conscious that’s why they always vote for MQM-P. Everybody knows that local bodies are deliberately made powerless. Not only in Karachi but local bodies across the province cannot perform their duties,” he added.

Mr Akhtar said that there was a shortfall of Rs6 billion in the head of ADP by the provincial government.

He also asked the centre to show seriousness towards Karachi as it ran the entire country. “Karachi needs special attention as it is the economic engine of Pakistan,” he added.

The mayor said that he got the mandate of “30 million people” which was more than the mandate of the chief minister but despite that he had faced mental agony for the last four years.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2020