Daily Times

The Convener of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Tuesday flayed Sindh Government’s decision to appoint Murtaza Wahab as Administrator of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), and warned that under his leadership Karachi should expect no development. Siddiqui expressed this while addressing the business community and talking to the media at Hyderabad Chamber of Small Trade and Small Industry (HCSTSI). Takinga jibe at the Wahab’s appointment, Siddiqui noted that ” his appointment can bring a change in Dubai’s real estate,” Acknowledging that the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had earmarked huge funds for development of Karachi and Hyderabad, Siddiqui said that the cities would be receiving a considerable development package after a long span of 11 years. Siddiqui reminisced that it was the former President Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf’s regime that last spent on the two cities’ development. He said globally the tax paying citizens were considered as most patriotic and those who evaded payment of the taxes were enemies of the state. Siddiqui claimed that Karachi had contributed more than $60 billion in taxes during the last 11 years. The MQM-P’s Convener lamented that though the urban centers in Sindh had been contributing massively to the federal and Sindh governments’ tax revenues, the city like Hyderabad still lacked a fully functional government university. He contended that the water supply to Karachi was the responsibility of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, but lamented that the incumbent government in the province often blamed the former Mayor of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), who belonged to MQM-P, for the water supply related problems. He also found fault with the successive population censuses, and pointed out that despite being the third largest city in Pakistan, Hyderabad was going down on the list of the most populated cities in Pakistan. He said Karachi’s population had been reduced to around 16 million people but the city was contributing tax equal to 30 million people. The MQM-P’s leader also recalled that the last local government elections in 2016 were conducted by Election Commission of Pakistan on the court’s order as the then governments appeared reluctant in transferring authority to the LG institutions. Siddiqui said all political parties of Pakistan had an ethnic origin, and while “MQM-P is criticized for its ethnic roots, but in Pakistan the slogans of Sindh card or jaag Punjabi jaag are also raised.” He denied that a split had occurred among the ranks of the MQM-P and argued that parting of ways of some of the leaders should not be considered breaking up of the party.