KARACHI: Mayor Murtaza Wahab has hinted that the city government intends to challenge a Sindh High Court ruling that declared illegal the conversion of amenity parks and playgrounds into commercial spaces under public-private partnerships.

He defended the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) move to convert amenity parks into commercial spaces and said that it was all done in good faith to “save the facilities from destruction” and in line with the approval given by the City Council and the Jamaat-i-Islami —which filed the petition against the commercialisation of the parks — was part of that entire process.

As Karachi grapples with the damage caused by the latest spell of monsoon rains, political tensions are boiling over between the Pakistan Peoples Party and the JI, as Mayor Wahab held a fiery press conference and accused the opposition party of hypocrisy and using the monsoon-related chaos to launch a smear campaign against his party.

“Jamaat-i-Islami filed a case against KMC regarding commercialisation of parks, and the court has issued a decision,” he said. “We have the legal and moral right to appeal that decision. Those accusing me are the same people who, back in 2003, were the first to commercialise Karachi’s roads and tore apart the city’s master plan. This is a matter concerning my city, and hypocrisy will not be tolerated here.”

He said that it was the JI that had commercialised Karachi’s main roads, and parks had become havens for drug addicts where “immoral activities” took place when it was in control of the city government under Naimatullah Khan Advocate.

“We decided to introduce recreational activities in the parks. We took the matter to the City Council and consulted on restoring the parks by reviving sports activities. For example, Bagh Ibn-i-Qasim was closed, but we restarted sports activities there, and the park was restored,” added Mayor Wahab.

He referred to the “propaganda” being spread by political opponents after the recent rains. They, he said, claimed that the Hub Canal and Shahrah-i-Bhutto were washed away by the recent rains. He said that reports of massive infrastructure collapse were exaggerated by the opposition and referred to claims made by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Sindh chapter president Haleem Adil Sheikh.

“Haleem Adil Sheikh claimed the entire Hub Canal was washed away, but in reality, only a 20-meter section was damaged — and we repaired it within 48 hours,” he insisted.

The mayor said that political differences often lead to misinformation, which damages the city’s image. He urged people to engage in politics but not to mislead others. He added that there is a perception that nothing gets done in the city.

“But we have decided not only to work but also to demonstrate our achievements,” he added.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2025