KARACHI: Mayor Wasim Akhtar on Tuesday said that he had been raising voice for empowerment of local bodies for the past four years and that’s why the authorities were showing seriousness towards issues of the city.

“InshaAllah we will get our right and it makes no difference either we get it through provincial government or the centre,” he added.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a ‘3D’ park in Lines Area, the mayor said that the people of Karachi and Hyderabad had given Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan mandate and this mandate could not be suppressed.

District Municipal Corporation-East chairman Moeed Anwar and others were also present.

Mr Akhtar once again requested the chief justice of Pakistan to take up his petition regarding empowerment of local bodies as resolution of issues lies in an empowered local government system.

Inaugurates park in Lines Area

He said that there was a need to uplift infrastructure of Lines Area and other localities of Karachi. “This is the right of the children to get healthy environment, parks and playgrounds but unfortunately our children are compelled to play around the drains and … garbage,” he added.

He said that he had been raising voice for the rights of Karachi for the last four years and thankfully now the authorities were paying heed to it. “Both Sindh and federal governments now admitted that our concerns for Karachi were right and they started to find a mechanism for resolving the issues,” he said.

Contaminated water in Lines Area

The mayor also expressed displeasure over provision of contaminated water to Lines Area and said that infrastructure of the locality had been destroyed.

He asked the federal and provincial governments to resolve issues of the masses.

He was of the view that that it were the people who elected prime minister, chief ministers, MNAs, and MPAs but in return they got nothing. “There is a need to replace sewerage and water lines of Lines Area,” he said.

The mayor said that Karachiites, who were running the country by providing 95 and 65 per cent revenue to Sindh and federation, respectively, were getting contaminated water.

He said that the people of the area voted for the MQM-P, which was determined to resolve issues of the masses.

“We change our policy as per situation and circumstances just to facilitate the people of Karachi, Sindh and Pakistan but we will never compromise on rights of our citizens,” he added.

Lambasting the Pakistan Peoples Party, the mayor said that it was in power for last 12 years and ruined Sindh, particularly Karachi.

He demanded that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation be empowered under Article 140-A of the Constitution.

“Our vote bank is intact and InshaAllah we will once again win by a big margin from Lines Area and all other parts of Karachi and Hyderabad,” he claimed.

Earlier, the mayor visited newly inaugurated park and appreciated the department concerned for their efforts.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2020