SHIKARPUR: Former member of the National Assembly Dr Muhammad Ibrahim Jatoi said that the people of Shikarpur have been suffering because of the city’s poor drainage system and lack of potable water, and alleged that the problem stems from non-cooperation between the chairman of the city’s municipal community and the chief municipal officer. Jatoi called upon members of the civil society to initiate a drive for better provision of utilities to the country. Citizens in several parts of Shikarpur have been suffering because of scarcity of drinking water and because streets and roads are flooded with sewage from a failing drainage system. The city is in dire need of development schemes to improve its sewerage system and construction of reverse osmosis (RO) plants. Jatoi further criticised the Sukkur Electric Power Plant Company (SEPCO) for its abysmal performance in Shikarpur and accused the SEPCO authorities of being involved in incidents of unscheduled and prolonged load shedding. He demanded that the government take notice of the issue and that relevant authorities take notice of the misappropriations in the Shikarpur Civil Hospital as well as the city’s water and sanitation issues so that the national treasury’s money could be used for the welfare of Shikarpur’s people. He also expressed his doubts about the accuracy of census results in Sindh and said that current office holders in the government should go to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to help the province. Zahid Ahmed Pahore, Abdul Rasheed Shar, Syed Rashid Shah and others were also present on the occasion. Published in Daily Times, September 10th 2017.