KARACHI, June 26: City Nazim Niamatullah Khan on Sunday said that a major partner in the Sindh coalition was effecting transfers and postings on a large scale in the city’s local government institutions. He said that the whole exercise was in relation to the upcoming local government elections.

“Only recently, 10 town municipal officers and six senior officers of the CDGK have been transferred,” he pointed out.

Addressing a news conference at his North Nazimabad residence on Sunday, he alleged that the coalition partner had not only blocked the release of the city government’s funds meant for development work, but had also got the work on many uplift schemes stopped by resorting to coercive tactics and using police.

In this context, the nazim referred to the stoppage of work on the CDGK’s Daman-i-Koh project and termed it ‘an act of state terrorism’. However, he vowed not to be budged by such acts, saying: “Our mission is to keep on working for the progress and prosperity of the city and its citizens.”

He also made mention of the Sharea Darul Uloom, a project funded by the federal government, and said that the work on it had been stopped because the provincial government had not been releasing the funds to the city government after receiving the same from the federal government.

He also accused the coalition partner of illegally setting up its sector and unit offices in the model parks, as well as other sites, recently developed by the city government. He said that there were 40 sites where such offices had been set up so far.

Denouncing such activities, the nazim urged the federal government to take a serious notice of the situation and take appropriate action in order to restrain the coalition partner, its ministers and activists from indulging in unlawful activities in the name of provincial autonomy.

About the forthcoming local government polls, he said: “In fact, elections are not won through hollow-slogans, but by rendering selfless service.” He referred to a record number of development projects undertaken by the city government over the past three-and-a-half years, and pointed out that not a single project could be presented by the rivals as their performance.”

Niamatullah Khan challenged MQM chief Altaf Hussain to come to Karachi and contest election against him so that he (Altaf Hussain) could realize who the favourite of Karachiites was.

Condemning the remarks made at the Muttahida women convention against Maulvis, Mr Khan said those who dared to use abusive language against Maulvis must know that good governance in Karachi could be attributed only to Maulvis.

The city nazim regretted that the permission for appointing doctors and paramedical staff for the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases (KIHD) was being delayed unnecessarily by the provincial government. Due to this, he said, the city government was facing problems in running the institute’s affairs.

“The well-equipped 120-bed institute has been set up in Federal B’ Area but the provincial government is not approving the requisite SNE for recruiting about 300 people – doctors, professors and paramedics — a summary of which had been sent to it in September last,” he added.

Despite the problem, prominent doctors like Prof Abdus Samad, Dr Abdul Haq and Dr Shafqat Hamid were striving hard to make the institute the best heart hospital in the city where patients could be provided satisfactory treatment at reasonable cost.

The city nazim also announced that the city government would shortly set up a diagnostic centre near Liaquat National Hospital where charges for different diagnostic procedures would be kept up to 70-80 per cent lower than normal charges.

Referring to the mega projects launched by the city government recently, Niamatullah Khan that the flyovers at Sohrab Goth and Hassan Square, a model mosque complex adjacent to the Civic Centre, and a bridge connecting Korangi with Shah Faisal Colony were being built at a fast pace.

About the city’s water requirement, he recalled that an agreement for setting up of a desalination plant of 50-million-gallon per day capacity had been signed with California-based firm whereas negotiations with two other firms were under way for another two plants of 150 mgd.