KARACHI: Lawmakers from the two sides of the aisle in the Sindh Assembly continued to criticise each other’s leadership on Tuesday on the fourth day of the post-budget discussion in the house.

The Pakistan Peoples Party members, like their colleagues who had spoken during the previous sitting, opted to lambast the federal government for ‘discrimination’ with the province, and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Grand Democratic Alliance members slated the government for ‘corruption’ and ‘inefficiency’.

The PTI members vehemently criticised the provincial government for not completing schemes in stipulated time, saying the schemes launched in 2011 were nowhere close to completion.

PTI protest

The PTI members staged a boycott when Deputy Speaker Rehana Leghari switched off the microphone of the party’s Adeel Ahmed who could not complete his speech in fixed 10 minutes.

The deputy speaker repeatedly reminded the PTI member that he had consumed his fixed time before she turned off his microphone.

The PTI members started shouting and protesting for not letting Mr Ahmed complete his speech.

They said that the treasury members spoke for 20 minutes each but opposition lawmakers were not permitted for more than 10 minutes. The protesting PTI members left the house and did not turn up till the end of the sitting.

MPA Sher Zaman slams LG dept and SBCA’s top officers for allowing illegal constructions in metropolis

Khurram Sher Zaman of the PTI said that 18th Amendment was aimed at devolving powers at the grass-root level.

“All other provinces take full benefit of the amendment but the Sindh government could not bring betterment in the people’s lives,” he added.

He said that there was an acute shortage of water in Karachi as the people were compelled to buy water from tankers.

Mr Zaman said that it was the provincial government’s failure that the federal government had to carry out civic works in Karachi, adding that it was the responsibility of the provincial government.

Mr Sher Zaman also criticised the local government department and top officers of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) for permitting illegal construction and said that innocent people were cheated.

Special package for Ghotki demanded

GDA’s Ali Gohar Mahar from Ghotki said that his constituency was neglected in the provincial budget.

“The budget is not only for the constituencies of PPP, but for the entire province,” he added.

He said that there was no university and proper medical facilities in Ghotki, demanding a special package for the district.

He said that patients were sent to Rahim Yar Khan due to lack of better treatment facilities in hospitals in the district.

The GDA member said that the budget was not spent for the well-being of the people.

Heer Soho of the PPP was critical of the federal government for ‘neglecting’ Sindh in the federal budget.

“The federal government allocated only Rs70 billion out of Rs900bn for Sindh in the federal PSDP in the budget while the majority of the amount was allocated for Punjab,” she said.

She also asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) not to cross the limits and work within its jurisdiction.

“The NAB had written a letter to the provincial government and sought domicile-wise record of the employees. Who is NAB to seek the record?” she asked.

As many as 18 members, including PPP’s Mohammad Ali Malkani, Anthony Naveed, Jam Khan Shoro, Noor Ahmed Bhurgari, Shamim Mumtaz, Parveen Qaimkhani, Jam Awais Jokhio, Shahid Thaheem, Ghanwer Khan Isran, Rana Hamir Singh and Sajeela Leghari, PTI’s Sidra Imran, Dr Seema Zia and Sanjay Gangwani spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2021