ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan constituted a high-level committee on Sunday to work out plans to address issues being faced by the residents of Karachi.

The committee has been asked to suggest short-, medium- and long-term measures for the betterment of Karachi.

The decision was taken at a meeting held to review the ongoing cleanliness campaign and development projects in the city, according to a handout issued by the PM Office.

The committee will be headed by Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), an ally of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in the ruling coalition at the centre.

Other members of the committee will be Federal Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi, Planning and Development Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar and the director general of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), Major General Inam Haider Malik.

Other members will be named later.

Mr Khan has directed the committee members to submit their initial recommendations on the proposed plans.

The participants of the meeting deliberated upon issues like supply of clean drinking water, sewerage, cleanliness and a mass transit system for the city.

The prime minister expressed his concern over the problems being faced by the people in Karachi and said the federal government would do its best for the resolution of these issues. He said the federal government wanted solution of these problems so that people enjoyed better facilities.

Without naming the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which has been ruling Sindh since 2008, the prime minister said Karachi had been suffering due to the “mismanagement and neglect” in the past.

Imran Khan made a special mention of the scarcity of clean drinking water and health hazards being faced by Karachiites. “Pakistan’s future is linked with Karachi as it is its financial hub.”

The FWO director general briefed the participants about the progress in the cleanliness drive. The prime minister called for continuing the drive.

Those who attended the meeting, among others, were Federal Minister for Information Technology Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Special Assistant to the PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza, MNA Aftab Hussain Siddiqui, Firdous Shamim Naqvi and Haleem Adil Siddiqui.

The prime minister also held a special meeting with the PTI’s secretary general Aamir Mahmood Kiani and chief organiser Saifullah Khan Niazi during the day.

Mr Khan discussed the current political situation with the two leaders and matters related to the party’s constitution as well as its reorganisation.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Imran Khan observed that the ruling party was at an important stage in its political growth. There was also a discussion about making the PTI an “ideal political ­institution”.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2019