HYDERABAD, Aug 18: Sindh Chief Minister Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim said on Saturday that if the Supreme Court started taking notice of every petty affair then there would be no end and “we are doing whatever is humanly possible to discharge our responsibilities and the apex court should do what is its job.”

The chief minister said in response to journalists’ queries after congratulating his adviser, Ms. Nuzhat Pathan, on her son’s marriage at her residence in Qasimabad that traffic gridlocks were part of life in cities like, Makkah, Dubai and New York and Karachi was no exception.

Besides, development activities were taking place in the city and a large number of new cars were adding ever day to the already huge number of vehicles on the roads, he said in apparent reference to the Supreme Court’s suo motu notice of traffic jams in Karachi. “After all the traffic is to be regulated by traffic sergeant and not me,” he retorted.

About protest by Awami National Party (ANP) workers over the arrest of armed workers in Karachi, Mr Rahim said that police found some people in possession of arms during routine checking at a picket. Now they were demanding their release, "it’s not fair”, he said.

He disagreed with the opposition’s demand that the existing local bodies’ governments should be dissolved ahead of general elections. “They had been complacent when their own people headed local bodies and now they demand dissolution of these bodies. It’s not fair,” he said. It might mean that they would next demand dissolution of provincial and federal governments at the time of local bodies’ polls, he remarked.

He disagreed with a questioner that a PPP-backed person would be made caretaker chief minister. “If there is to be a PPP’s chief minister then what we have been doing for past five years,” he said, stressing that the caretaker chief minister would be a neutral person.

Mr Rahim rejected reports about deal with PPP and reiterated that the present assemblies would re-elect the president as his party had its own electorate and the re-election would be no big problem.

Referring to the demolition of old Sindhi villages in Karachi, he said that he had ensured that the lands of villages, police or government would not be touched by the city government. The chief minister dismissed questions about tug-of-war between him and Dr. Hameeda Khuhro, saying that the issue was of administrative nature.

He said that he had held meetings with Zakat Council to make zakat system more transparent and had passed orders against officials involved in corruption.

He said that the elections would be held according to schedule but if hurdles were created then the situation might take a different turn. People must take into consideration the global scenario, involving Afghanistan, China and Russia and the changing situation at the country’s frontiers.

The elements who were trying to turn up pressure on the present system and trying to create hype were not serving the country. Only one person was serving in uniform while the remaining system was working efficiently, he said.