HYDERABAD: Mayor Tayyab Hussain on Monday criticised the Sindh government for its “biased” attitude towards the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and its elected representatives and demanded reformation of the Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) governing body by including him (the mayor) and other people from his party as its members.

Mr Hussain also called for rescinding all recent decisions taken by the HDA governing body and termed them “anti-people”.

Reading from a written statement at a press conference at the local press club, he said he came to know through press reports that Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah had presided over a meeting of the HDA governing body in Karachi on Jan 26 and invited to it some office-bearers of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). MQM-P leaders were not invited to the meeting, he said.

This was a cause of concern for the MQM-P as certain “anti-people” decisions were taken at the meeting. They included approval of 20 to 30 per cent rise in the water and sewerage charges, dividing 132,000 consumers in six categories, issuance of two bills to two-storey houses and an exorbitant increase in commercial tariff.

MQM-P demands inclusion of mayor, other party leaders in governing body

He strongly condemned the decisions and said that people of Hyderabad and their elected representatives belonging to the MQM-P were fully aware of the poor performance of HDA and its subsidiary, the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa). He pointed out that main roads and streets of the city often remained flooded with sewage and consumers were not being supplied safe drinking water. HDA’s officers would always remain in hibernation and the public utility was plagued with rampant corruption committed by PPP people, he alleged.

Rejecting the increase in water and sewerage charges, the mayor argued that the consumers who were paying their bills regularly would have to bear this additional financial burden. Instead, he suggested, Wasa should ensure 100pc recovery of bills and dues from defaulters.

He apprehended that the new low-cost housing schemes being introduced by Sindh government would open up more avenues for corruption. He pointed out that the Gulistan-i-Sarmast Housing Sch­eme launched by the HDA 10 years back was still incomplete and corrupt elements had already pocketed billions of rupees in the scheme.

He noted that allottees of this scheme were upset due to various issues concerning allotment letters, possession of property and development works. He said the scheme must be completed before any new scheme was launched.

He insisted that the people of Hyderabad should not be made to pay water and sewerage charges more than the people of other parts of the province.

He warned corrupt elements within HDA against continuing with their “anti-people” practices, or else MQM-P would initiate a campaign against them and also move court.

MQM-P MNAs, MPAs and other leaders including Sabir Qaimkhani, Salahuddin, Rashid Khilji, Nadeem Siddiqui and Nasir Qureshi, as well as Deputy Mayor Sohail Mashhadi also spoke at the press conference.

Criticising the Sindh government’s “biased attitude and poor performance”, they said not a single school or college was built in Hyderabad over the last 10 years. Similar treatment was being meted out to Karachi, Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas which had Urdu-speaking people in majority and were considered to be MQM-P strongholds.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2020