Daily Times

KARACHI: Mayor Wasim Akhtar demands the same powers which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has given to local governments, claimed PTI Chairman Imran Khan while addressing traders at the Khaliq Dina Hall on MA Jinnah Road on Monday.

He said that Wasim Akhtar was rightly complaining about not having enough powers. “The more you devolve power the more efficient your systems will be,” he said, adding that devolution of power was really important for Karachi. “The existing setup is of no use. Pakistan needs a great change.”

He said that in Peshawar, “the mayor gets to spend 30 percent of the development budget”.

Among other things, Imran Khan considered the uprooting of corruption “one of the significant achievements of the PTI in KP”.

He said that companies were investing in KP because they knew that they would not have to pay bribe at any stage. “If anyone is caught red-handed, I will take action against that person.”

Talking about the performance of KP Police, the PTI chief said that the police, after the reformation, stood at a much better place than they once did. “Sindh IG AD Khawaja says he wants a police like that of KP.”

Mocking at the role of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan’s apex tax collection authority, he said that Pakistani people possessed very generous attitude, as they spend a huge amount of money in charity rather than paying taxes.

He underlined the need to widen the tax net and said that Pakistan could never overcome its economic woes unless the tax collection system was fixed and a proper taxation system put in place.

Giving details of the steps taken by the KP government, he said that due to its efforts, the land price in Galyat had increased by almost 100 percent and the number of tourists visiting the area had also doubled.

Criticising the embezzlement of money by political leaders, he said, “Money is stashed in Panama and Dubai but no one is ready to pay taxes… We don’t even know how many Ayyan Alis are leaving the country with suitcases full of money.”

Towards the end, he thanked the traders present on the occasion and recalled how significant their contributions had been in setting up Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital. “When I started my campaign to launch Shaukat Khanum, a lot of people encouraged me, but only a few actually donated money. The traders helped a lot,” he said. Imran Khan concluded his speech by directing PTI leader Asad Umar to set up a committee that would be responsible for registering and addressing the concerns of traders.