KARACHI, May 22: The Sindh Assembly session which had begun on Friday was prorogued on Monday without deliberations on any item on the order of the day. All but two Muttahida Qaumi Movement members again stayed away from the session, apparently to express their displeasure with Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim.
However, amid reports of differences within his coalition government, Dr Arbab tried to woo the opposition, when he sought its cooperation “in the larger interest of Sindh.”
Making a statement on the floor of the house about the controversies over the demolition of goths in Karachi and interior of Sindh, he said there were certain misconceptions about encroachments.
Referring to the demolition of houses in Juma Goth and Sikandar Goth in Karachi, the chief minister said he had formed a committee of the ministers from interior and a minister from Karachi, Irfanullah Khan Marwat, to look into the matter and prepare a list of all goths.
He said he had also sought reports from two senior officers of the revenue department to verify the authenticity of the villages. He said he would see to it that no recognised old village was touched. As far as the operation in Sikandar Goth was concerned, he pointed out, the same had been carried out under the orders of a court of law.
Dr Arbab said that as soon as he learnt about people posing resistance to the operation, and that MPAs Makhdoom Jamiluz Zaman and Ms Sassui Palejo from the opposition had visited the goth to sympathise with the affected families, he ordered an immediate halt to the operation.
Referring to Yusuf Goth the chief minister said he had directed the chief secretary to ensure that no village in Karachi or the interior of Sindh was razed without his permission.
He maintained that not only the illegal goths were there in Karachi, some illegal buildings also existed in the city. If illegal goths would be razed, than illegal buildings should also be demolished, he argued.
The chief minister sought the opposition’s cooperation and offered inclusion of its members in the committee formed to look into the matter of demolition of houses/goths.
Referring to MPA Jam Tamachi’s critical appraiser of the performance of assembly over the past three-and-a-half years and his advice for the chief minister to come to the opposition so that instead of playing to the galleries, some work could be done for the betterment of Sindh, Dr Arbab said he was ready to do so. The chief minister, in this context, said that he had talked to the leader of the opposition, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, to seek his cooperation. He said he had told Mr Khuhro that “you should cooperate with us because we are in power, we will cooperate with you when you will be in power.”
The chief minister said although the government could be run through ordinances, some good legislation work could be done for the people of Sindh if opposition extended its cooperation to his government.
Referring to the issue, raised by Omar Sadiq of MMA, of the compensation and alternative residences for the affected families of Yusuf Goth, Dr Arbab said that only yesterday (Sunday) he had signed the file pertaining to the apportionment of 10 per cent plots in the Lyari Development Authority schemes as quota for the affected families of the goth.
Responding to Ms Sassui Palejo’s complaint about denial of adequate water to Thatta and Badin through the K-III project and Rafique Engineer’s similar complaint viz-a-viz Lyari, the chief minister said that the situation of water requirement and supply in Karachi was being exploited by the ‘tanker mafia’. Nevertheless, he added, the city nazim had promised to take appropriate steps.
Dr Arbab said that Ms Palejo’s contention was valid and in order to meet Thatta’s water requirement, a plant was being installed there.
