HYDERABAD: Sindh Senior Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that prime minister is under obligation to convene a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Sindh’s requisition to discuss federal plan to draw Indus water for six new canals. He did not rule out a protest sit-in by the Pakistan Peoples Party over the controversial canals like slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto had led in the Kammo Shaheed area of Ubauro, Ghotki, against Kalabagh dam project [in August 1998].

He was speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of Hyderabad Union of Journalists (HUJ) governing body in the local press club on Monday.

“Right now we don’t think there is a need to go for a protest sit-in, but the party leadership can take such a decision in future if needs be, he said while answering a question raised by a journalist.

He reiterated Sindh government’s stance on the issue, pointing out that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had already explained it in his video call watched and heard by party workers across the country.

PPP may go for a protest sit-in, but at an appropriate time, he tells journalists

He said that the Sindh chief minister had already invoked CCI’s jurisdiction on the issue. “The PPP believes that without following the prescribed procedure for these projects, the same cannot be executed,” he said, adding that the prime minister was under obligation to convene the CCI meeting as soon as possible to discuss the matter.

Farm and livestock sectors

Sharjeel Memon said that agriculture and livestock sectors were backbone of the national economy. The farm sector’s exports stood at $8bn and livestock’s $1bn and these exports could be increased to $16bn and $10bn, respectively, considering their immense potential.

He said Sindh was contributing heavily to the national exchequer in terms of taxes, therefore, its projects should be given serious consideration to match the contribution.

Delay in completing M6 resented

The minister was highly critical of the inordinate delay in completing M6, the last link of the Motorway i.e. Hyderabad-Sukkur section. “Why there is slackness in its completion?” he asked.

This strip is in pretty bad shape, and has been causing economic losses to the country. Federal government should complete this part of the motorway without any further delay, the way it had completed rest of the Motorway’s components, he asserted.

Sharjeel Memon said the unfinished work was a bottleneck for the national economy, arguing that this strip served as the main import-export activities, involving the Karachi port. “Ignoring its completion is great injustice to the national economy and 240m people of the country,” he remarked.

He stressed that federal government should accord top priority to the completion of the project even if other projects had to be stalled.

Special Hyderabad package

The minister said that Sindh government had planned launch of electric vehicles (EVs) in Hyderabad and other cities for which he had already asked the officials concerned to see how to remove encroachment of transport sector’s lands near Wahdat Colony by federal authorities.

He said that a special Hyderabad package would be considered with cabinet’s approval because this city had suffered a lot in the past.

Journalists’ welfare

Newly-elected HUJ President Hamid Shaikh and General Secretary Ali Hamza Zaidi, who along with other office-bearers and governing body members welcomed the minister to the club, briefed him about the union’s efforts for journalists’ welfare.

Sharjeel Memon said that the Sindh government had contributed to journalists’ welfare and would keep serving them. He promised that he would get a health insurance scheme for journalists approved from the chief minister. For this purpose, he said, the government could create an Endowment Fund for major press clubs.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2025