KARACHI, Sept 9: City Nazim Naimatullah Khan has said that the city government had established 32 intermediate and degree colleges in the city over the past three years and planned to provide 10 new colleges to Karachiites every year.
He was speaking after inaugurating the Quaid-i-Azam Degree College for Boys in Korangi Town on Thursday. On this occasion, the city nazim also laid foundation stones of a school and a road in the area.
"Establishing more educational institutions is need of the hour keeping in view the growing population of Karachi," he stressed, and pointed out that steps were being taken in this direction.
He observed that education was a person's basic right and the city government was striving hard to ensure that every child in the city was being imparted education as his right.
Pledging that housing schemes would be launched to provide residential facilities to the shelterless in Karachi, he said that steps were being taken to ensure availability of basic civic amenities at kutchi abadis. He also vowed to grant lease rights to the residents of kutchi abadis.
He revealed that sites close to the Northern Bypass and the land adjacent to Super Highway were being examined for the housing schemes which would be meant for the shelterless.
Naimatullah Khan deplored that the Sindh Kutchi Abadis Authority was not devolved to the CDGK. This, he said, was the reason that development activities in such areas could not be initiated.
"Export Promotion Bureau has started development activities in Sialkot but in spite of clear directives by President Musharraf, the EPB appeared not willing to undertake similar development work in the industrial areas of Karachi," he claimed, adding that even Higher Education Commission (HEC) had failed to establish an IT institute at an specified location.
The city nazim viewed that all departments and authorities should cooperate with the CDGK in executing its development projects. He regretted that the city government was still not authorized to recruit teachers for educational institutions.
EDO Higher Education Prof Raees Alvi, speaking on the occasion, said despite lack of resources and other such impediments, the city government was establishing more educational institutions.
Korangi Town Nazim Abdul Jalil Khan pointed out that while all the other provincial assembly were adopting bills for providing relief and facilities to their respective people but in the Sindh Assembly, legislators were doing nothing but indulging in quarrels and uproar.
PLANS: City Nazim Naimatullah Khan has said that planning for the construction of flyovers at Hassan Square and Sohrab Goth has been finalized and designs for the underpasses of FTC and Gharibabad prepared.
In his meeting with a high-level delegation of the Local Government Commission, Balochistan, the nazim gave a briefing about the development projects launched by the CDGK. The delegation was led by the Commission's Chairman, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed Sharwodi. He told the delegation that the formation of Public Safety Commission for Karachi had hit snags. -PPI