Daily Times

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz Tuesday said Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Karachi on Friday and announce new projects for the city.

Addressing a press conference here to inform about the decisions of the federal cabinet, he said the prime minister is very clear that contribution of the federal government for Karachi should be through a coordinated and specific programme. He said people of Karachi are passing through a difficult time and the government’s sympathies are with them.

The minister said the federal government is doing all it can for the people of Karachi. “There was a time when Karachi was filled with garbage but the PTI representatives got the city cleared,” he recalled. “Shortage of water supply, tanker mafia and sewerage and solid waste management are serious issues in the provincial capital,” he said. The federal government respects the mandate of the Sindh government and will work in coordination with it and the National Disaster Management Authority to resolve problems of the city, he assured.

The minister said during the cabinet meeting, the prime minister issued instructions to the Adviser on Finance Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and PM’s Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Sania Nishtar to begin second phase of Ehsaas Programme to help the poor. He said Ehsaas programme generated economic activity and supported poor people, adding after the coronavirus, the economy is getting revived and all economic indicators are getting better at a time when economies of the European countries and India are contracting.

To a question about recent statement of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, he said Pakistan Muslim League-N during its years in power mistreated the female leaders of Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and other parties and its leaders should know about their party’s history.

He said during the cabinet meeting, the impact of disaster caused by heavy rains in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other provinces also came under discussion. He said the federal government in coordination with the provincial governments is helping the people affected by rains.

To another question, Shibli said India is Pakistan’s enemy which never misses an opportunity to harm it but it would not succeed in its nefarious designs. “Opposition will have to decide whether it supported the narrative of Pakistan or India on legislation related to Financial Action Task Force (FATF),” he added.

The minister said various names were under consideration for appointing an administrator for Karachi. To a query, he said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chairman Asim Saleem Bajwa attended the cabinet meeting and that he will explain his position on the news about him in the next few days.

Shibli said CPEC is an important project for people of Pakistan and it is not the personal project of PML-N, adding on the project, China worked with Pakistan and not with a political party. He said conspiracies against the CPEC project are being hatched by the enemies of Pakistan.

To a question, he said the court has asked Nawaz Sharif to appear before it and then it would consider his bail application. PML-N should tell whether it was with its leader or with the law of the land, he asked.