KARACHI, Jan 20: Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that the twin islands off Karachi coast have not been handed over to the Dubai-based investors. However, he added, the islands must be developed.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, the chief minister said those opposing the development plan, should lodge their protest with the authorities that had given the islands to the federal government.

Benazir Bhutto had called his people to Dubai and admonished them for issuing statements against the initiative… and they have stopped issuing such statements, he noted.

Arbab Ghulam Rahim pointed out that meetings had been held with the prime minister and attorney general on the issue, and said: “We want Abdul Qadir Halepoto and Abdul Hafeez Pirzada to be appointed as conciliators to help settle the dispute between the federal and Sindh governments.”

He thanked the chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Altaf Hussain for supporting the Sindh government’s claim of the islands’ ownership, and requested him to ask the MQM minister who had signed the Memorandum of Understanding with regard to the islands’s development to withdraw from the deal.

Referring to the PS-71 (Jamshoro) by-election, the chief minister said that Mujibur Rehman Jilani had been nominated as PML candidate after consultation with the ruling coalition partners.—APP