May 10, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 4, 1429

NEW YORK, May 9: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has said that if given adequate resources he would be able to solve city’s problems relating to security, water, power and land-grabbing mafia.

“We have plans to set up several power projects to end the shortage of electricity in the city,” he told reporters at the international visitors centre on the conclusion of his 10-day visit to the United States on Thursday.

He said he had assured the US authorities that his party (the Muttahida Qaumi Movement) would continue to combat the scourge of terrorism, given the right tools and empowerment.

Mr Kamal attributed the security problem in Karachi to the large influx of refugees from Afghanistan and said: “The situation will worsen if it is not checked. You have people from different backgrounds coming and grabbing land. We know what’s going on but we can’t stop it because we don’t control the police.

“This is a security problem, not just an economic problem. 99 per cent of the people are Afghans and they take the shelter under the word of ‘refugees’.”

He said that the issue of land mafia could be easily resolved if his office (Nazim) had command of the police force which was under the control of the provincial government.

“You see, there’s no unity of command. Unity of command is very important. In Karachi, we don’t even control the police; they are controlled by the provincial government.” He pointed out that a master plan prepared by the MQM would resolve the issue if they got cooperation from the provincial government.

“The master plan contains plans for legal jurisdiction over the whole city. We’ve gone to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to get this pushed. It’s under process, but these other agencies are working under federal law, and so the federal law has to be amended.”

He criticised the Sindh provincial government, and was reluctant to speak about a reported new agreement between the Pakistan People’s Party and his party.

On speculations in the Pakistani media about bigger or “hidden” agenda of his visit, Mr Kamal rejected the reports saying that he was seeking new ideas from business groups and investors in the United States to make Karachi a dynamic city and live up to its potential.