Daily Times

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that it was a historic day on Monday since the provincial government completed its full five-year term for the second consecutive time.

“This is the triumph of the people of Sindh who elected the assembly and it is the victory of the democracy for which Shaheed Mohterma Benazir Bhutto laid her life,” he said, while addressing the farewell cabinet meeting at the CM House on Monday.

The meeting was attended by all provincial ministers, advisors and special assistants, chief secretary Rizwan Memon, P&D chairman Mohammad Waseem, and Principal Secretary to CM Sohail Rajput.

CM Shah said that during his 22-month tenure, he had worked day in and day out with dedication and honesty to serve the people of Sindh. “Our people [of Sindh] voted us in power and without any discrimination, we served them to the best of our abilities,” he said.

Murad Ali Shah said that he paid special attention to health, education, infrastructure development and restoration of law and order. “With the grace of God, we have succeeded in not only restoring law and order but also promoting sectarian harmony. Today, our province has again turned into a cradle of peace and tranquility,” he said.

Talking about infrastructure development, the chief minister said that he paid equal attention to rural and urban areas. “Karachi gives a most beautiful look and with the restructuring of road network, underpasses and overhead bridges, the issues of smooth flow of traffic have been resolved to some extent. To end traffic jams, we have to finish the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit System and the Karachi Circular Railway,” he said. He added that work on BRT system was in progress, while the KCR was in the pipeline.

He said that road network and construction of bridges on river Indus have connected almost all the districts of the province. “We have reduced distances from one district to another,” he said.

Regarding Thar Coal, he said generation of electricity from Thar coal was just a few months away. “The mining work is nearing completion and installation of the power plant is also almost over,” he said.

Murad Ali Shah said that the concept of public private partnership (PPP) had worked well in Sindh. “Under the PPP arrangement, we have constructed a bridge on River Indus, constructed Karachi-Thatta dual carriage way and various other roads and various other projects are in the pipeline,” he said.

The chief minister thanked the leadership of Pakistan Peoples’ Party for posing confidence in him and his cabinet members: Nisar Khuhro, Manzoor Wassan, Syed Sardar Shah and others.

Murad Ali Shah, in his concluding remarks, said that he and his cabinet were returning to the people for election. “I am happy that we have done something good for the people of Sindh in the shape of good infrastructure, better health services, good education and if given another chance, we would serve them to the best of our abilities,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, May 29^th 2018.