KARACHI, March 22: The city government plans installation of two more treatment plants, having a capacity to treat 400mgd. Talking to a delegation of senior officers of the 84th National Management Course from Administrative Staff College Lahore, now on a field visit here, Nazim Mustafa Kamal said that the city government also plans to purchase machinery worth Rs 556 million and five snorkels for disaster management while work has started on infrastructure improvement in the industrial zones at a cost of Rs4.5 billion.

Mustafa Kamal said for the first time Solid Waste Management in Karachi had been privatized and this system had registered a gradual improvement in the last 25 days.

He said that police were not under the Nazim directly, however, Nazim is a linkage between police and community and has best coordination with CCPO.

He said problems were cropping up because of traffic police not being under the City Government. Now a Traffic Police Management Board, headed by the Nazim, had been created which would bring improvement in traffic management.

Mustafa Kamal said that both planning and implementation sections will be under the Nazim’s control. We are providing best equipment and vehicles to traffic police and also installing cameras in the city.

He said since no more land was available in Karachi, there was a no need for revival of KDA.

However, unlike other provinces, since the authorities in Sindh had been done away with at the time of issuance of SLGO, the Malir and Lyari Development Authorities have been revived in view of their importance.

He said these authorities were now working very well and steps were being taken for providing housing facilities to Karachiites.

The Nazim stated that after Oct 8 earthquake, full attention was now being paid on disaster management in Pakistan and a disaster management board, headed by Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, has been set up.

He said that the City Government was also part of this Board, but it has already started taking protective measures in the city’s larger interest and decision had been taken for procuring required machinery worth Rs 556 million and five snorkels, besides the equipping fire brigade with latest machinery.

He said each of the 18 Towns in Karachi will have a fire centre with six fire engines. He said a big amount would be allocated for disaster management in the next budget.

To a query, Mustafa Kamal said that the city was being supplied three percent water through tankers. Some areas don’t have water supply system, like Korangi Industrial area.

He admitted that the tanker service had some shortcomings, but if closed down, it would result in problems to water deficit areas.

He spoke about measures being taken for providing recreational facilities to the common man and said that a five km long beach park was being constructed at seaside where land had been vacated by removing 8,000 oil-tankers.

He stated that Bagh Ibn-i-Qasim would be opened for public by the end of this month while another beautiful park was being constructed on 100 acres at Gutter Baghicha whose first phase had since been completed. Besides, a big park was also being constructed in Gadap.

He told the delegation members that city government is fully encouraging industrial activities and spending Rs 4.5 billion on the development of industrial zones.

He described the development work done in the health and education sectors highly encouraging.

He said that a KCCI committee had been set up which would cooperate with the city government for all of its departments.

Mustafa Kamal said that work on Lyari Expressway was going on satisfatorily. It is a unique experiment in Pakistan whereby over 24,000 families were being resettled. He said this caused some delay, but the project, anyhow, would be completed by 2007.

The Chief Instructor of Staff College, Akhtar Hayat, thanked the Nazim and appreciated his policies with regard to development activities.—APP

Demolition defended: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has again defended demolition of old villages and katchi abadis in Karachi, saying that anti-Pakistan forces had joined hands to impede the city’s uplift process that was in full swing for the last four months.

“It is not difficult to identify those impeding development in the country and this city by politicising the purely administrative steps taken against encroachments,” he said, referring to the protests organized by various political, religious and nationalist parties against the razing of Jumma Goth in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, Mr Kamal said that the city government had undertaken demolition irrespective of the affectees’ caste and creed particularly in Gulshan, New Karachi, Orangi and Liaquatabad towns.

“We did not comprise on principles and consider larger interest of citizens,” he said, indicating: “Many of our voters have also been affected by the action.”

He remarked that those politicising the issue of encroachment removal were themselves land grabbers.

“Karachiites better know how encroachments emerge on precious lands. They (land grabbers) first occupy some land belonging to poor people and later dislodge them to raise big residential projects on the land,” he said.

The city nazim pointed out that illegal settlements were set up over or near the major pipelines supplying water to the city and the pipelines were broken by the encroachers to fetch water.

The damage would cause waste of drinking water and its mixing with sewage.

Justifying the demolition of Jumma Goth, he said the village had been raised on the land having the Siphon-19 that supplied water to 70 per cent population of the metropolis.

Due to mixing of sewage water at the siphon, health of the population was at great risk. He said removal of the goth was this in the larger interest of these citizens.

Mr Kamal said that the city government had taken every step in accordance with the law and would continue to do so in future.—PPI