The Sindh government has totally failed to provide any relief to the residents of Karachi amid deteriorating infrastructure of the city, worsening law and order situation, unavailability of public transport, broken roads, and lack of powers and resources at the grassroots level.
Karachi Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Monem Zafar Khan expressed these views on Thursday. He said the Sindh government and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) had completely failed to provide any relief to a population and there appeared to be no hope for improvement.
Commenting on the recent lynching of a robber in Orangi, he said taking the law into one’s own hands could not be supported in any manner but it was a matter of fact that the emerging incidents of citizens catching and burning robbers themselves were the direct result of the Sindh government and police department’s failure to bring criminals to justice, curb crime and fulfil their constitutional responsibility to protect the lives and property of the people.
“The situation in the city is such that on the one hand, people are being robbed, looted, and even killed by thieves and armed robbers; and on the other hand, deadly dumpers and water tankers are claiming lives,” the JI leader lamented. “Just today [Thursday], a tanker hit a motorcyclist on Kashmir Road, resulting in his death.”
He added that under the government patronage, public parks and citizens’ properties were being encroached upon, and due to corruption and irregularities in housing societies, people were losing their lifelong savings.
Khan asked who would protect the citizens from deadly heavy traffic and armed robbers and when people would get dignified public transport. He noted that the Pakistan Peoples Party had been ruling Sindh for 17 years, with full control over local government institutions, powers and resources, yet it remained unwilling to resolve public issues.
He demanded that the Sindh government take serious and concrete measures to pull the city out of this disastrous situation and put an end to its incompetence, mismanagement, corruption, and nepotism.
He urged the government to review all ongoing development projects in the city and provide relief to citizens suffering due to delays. He further called upon the government to empower local bodies under the Article 140-A, devolve powers and resources to the lowest tier, allocate development funds to every town and UC, and ensure that institutions under the Sindh government — including Sindh Solid Waste Management, Water Corporation, and SBCA — work in consultation with towns and elected representatives.
