KARACHI: While Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Mustafa Kamal offered the Sindh government his services to help build the long-delayed K-IV water supply project, a senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan leader on Sunday demanded resignation of the Sindh chief minister for acknowledging his failure in completing the much-awaited scheme.

“The K-IV project has been delayed because of the incompetent Sindh government. The chief minister should resign as he has himself conceded his failure regarding K-IV,” said senior MQM-P leader and MNA Aminul Haq while addressing the inauguration ceremony of a vocational training centre in Orangi Town.

Mr Haq was referring to CM Murad Ali Shah’s disclosure at a multiparty conference of Karachi’s stakeholders a couple of days ago in which he had admitted that Karachi was facing a grave water crisis and that there was no chance of timely completion of the K-IV project.

PSP chief Kamal offers help in completing the scheme within three years for a symbolic Re1 fee

The MQM-P lawmaker also asked Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani to resign and demanded registration of criminal cases against “incompetent” officials of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board who were actually behind the delay in the much-awaited K-IV project.

He said that the PPP government failed to complete the Orange Line bus rapid transit system in Orangi Town despite passing four years.

Speaking as the chief guest, MQM-P convener and federal minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that Karachi had been suffering because of the “economic terrorism of the feudal of the Pakistan Peoples Party”.

He asked the gathering whether the Pakistan before the first term of the PPP was better or the current Pakistan is better.

He said that Pakistan could not progress until the feudal system in the country was not abolished.

Kamal’s offer to Sindh govt

Earlier in the day, PSP chairman Mustafa Kamal held a press conference in which he offered the Sindh government his services in building the K-IV project within three years for “the sake of people of Karachi”.

“I will take Re1 fee and work myself only for the people of Karachi,” he said. “I will complete this project within three years and if not then you can give me whatever punishment you want.”

He said those who were talking about the design of the K-IV project did not know anything about it.

Mr Kamal also criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan, advising him to stop frequently equating his ‘Naya Pakistan’ with the state of Madina as there was no horse-trading in the sacred state.

Heaping scorn at the MQM-P, he said that before the passage of the federal budget Balochistan National Party chief AKhtar Mengal, who is a government ally, held negotiations and managed to get recovered 70 “missing persons”.

“And the MQM just demanded one more ministry,” he quipped.

He said that his party was organising a public meeting on July 21 at Bagh-i-Jinnah. He sought people’s support in the rally and promised to solve their problems within six months if given power.

He said people had been asking him to get united. “Will it solve the problems [of people of Karachi]. If it is the case then I am ready to go to Bahadurabad,” he said, referring to the temporary headquarters of MQM-Pakistan.

He said that the real issue was not unity as the problem lay with the people in Bahadurabad.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2019