KARACHI: Karachi can’t be separated from Sindh, says Kamal
KARACHI, May 1: City Nazim Mustafa Kamal has said that the Karachi cannot be separated from Sindh and added that Karachi as a developed city would represent and reflect the entire province being its capital.
“We have been talking for the development of Karachi in terms of developing the whole of province. Karachi and Sindh were not two separate entities but the integral part of each other. What we plan is to use this city as a platform for bringing the investment and generating the economic activities in the province,” he said while speaking at a reception hosted by him in the honour of participants of international seminar on “Sindh: past, present and future” at Bagh-i-Jinnah on Sunday night.
Karachi University’s Vice-Chancellor Prof (Dr) Pirzada Qasim Raza, Sindh University Vice-Chancellor Dr Mazharul Haque Siddiqui and others also addressed.
The nazim said, “Sindh is the land of saints, who preached the message of love and peace, therefore, we should encourage this culture here and highlight it the world over as a symbol of peace. This would attract the people from abroad to invest here,” he added.
On this occasion, Mustafa Kamal presented cultural gifts of Sindhi caps and Ajraks to the guests.
Meanwhile, addressing a seminar held under the auspices of monthly Mualij on the occasion of 251st anniversary of homeopathy founder Dr Hynmen at a hotel on Sunday, Mustafa Kamal announced a substantial increase in the annual grant of Rs0.6 million to Rs5 million for Nazimabad Homeopathic Hospital with upgradation of the post of medical superintendent and immediate provision of X-ray and ultrasound machines.
The nazim also announced that trauma centre would be opened in 15 to 20 days and the city government made it the best trauma centre of the country within four months.
He pointed out that for the last 28 years, only two companies used to supply medicines for city government hospitals. These medicines were mostly ineffective, he said. When an advertisement was published in newspapers seeking offers from pharmaceutical companies for supply of medicines, no one participated, he added. “In such a case, the orders should have gone to these two companies, but, we again published advertisements and 172 companies submitted tenders,” he said. Of them, 82 companies were short listed and now these firms supplied medicines to city government hospitals.
He told the seminar that for the first time a hospital management system had been introduced in city government hospitals whereby computerised record of every thing was being maintained.
Mustafa Kamal said that the city government in the past remained unsuccessful in focussing on hygiene while water and sewerage problems remained unattended. In the past, he observed, focus was laid only on cosmetic issues. “I revolted against the system of cosmetic works,” he said and declared that water and sewerage problems would almost be solved in two years.
In the last 50 years, the city nazim said that Karachiites saw roads being dug up every now and then. But this would no more happen, he said. “All over the world water and sewerage lines are laid on one side of the road but here water, sewerage, electricity lines pass under the roads as a result of which no road remains long lasting,” he added. He said that all utilities were being shifted to one side of the road and roads constructed by the present city government would last for 50 years.
The seminar was also addressed by Mansoor Yusuf, Dr Akbar N. Kashif, Prof Arshad Ali and Rahat Masood. The experts said that hepatitis was more deadly than TB and AIDS caused by insanitation. They said every 20th person in the world was a patient of hepatitis, they observed. —PPI/APP
