KARACHI: Sindh Governor Imran Ismail said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Naya Pakistan in fact was the fulfilment of the vision of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah the way he wanted to see the country.

Talking to media after offering fateha at the Quaid’s mausoleum and laying a wreath, he said PM Khan picked up the gauntlet to transform the country in accordance with the vision of the Father of the Nation.

He said: “Today is the luckiest day for me to visit the Mazar in the capacity of Sindh Governor to pay my respects to Father of the Nation. The great leader gave us Pakistan where we are living in a free environment. Let us pledge that we would build Pakistan as per vision of the Quaid.”

In reply to a question, Governor Ismail said he would not leave any stone unturned in the service of the people of the province with total honesty and dedication and would not hesitate to sacrifice his life for the development and prosperity of the province.

Promises to remove all obstacles standing in way of Green Line BRTS’s completion

He said he would take along all stakeholders because the interest of the people of the province could only be served through consultation and consensus of every party in the assembly and outside the assembly.

He said he would work with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, Grand Democratic Alliance, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and other parties in Sindh.

Green Line project

In reply to another question, he said he would start taking briefing of the federal government’s development projects being carried out in the province.

The governor said the pressing issue of Karachi was of water and it was his top priority to improve water supply.

In this connection, he said, he had already talked to the prime minister and federal finance minister who had assured him to ensure availability of water in the city at every cost.

Besides the ongoing water projects, there was a dire need to start new water projects to meet the future needs of the metropolis.

He hoped that new water supply projects would soon be initiated for Karachi.

Talking about transport problems in the city, he said that the Green Line metro bus was a good project for facilitating commuters.

He said he would be able to comment on the pace of work for the Green Line project’s early completion after having a briefing. He promised to remove all obstacles so that the project could be completed at the earliest.

The governor also recorded his impressions in the visitors’ book at the Quaid’s mausoleum. He wrote: “Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah succeeded [in] acquiring independent state for the Muslims of India through his untiring efforts where every entity enjoy total religious freedom and full opportunities. Building the country in accordance to the vision of Quaid-i-Azam is our top priority.”

Guard of honour

Also on Tuesday, the governor had a brief meeting with the Governor House staff and told them that service to the people of the province ought to be their top priority.

He said the people had a lot of expectations from the Governor House and “we have to play a role in ending their difficulties and extending them maximum facilities”.

He was given a guard of honour by Rangers when he arrived at the Governor House.

Later, he visited different wings of the Governor House and planted a sapling as part of the ongoing ‘Green Pakistan’ initiative.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2018