KARACHI: I have never agreed more than I do with Arif Jabbar Khan’s article in your newspaper titled Where are our local governments? (September 22).
The turning on my street has become a dumpster. On Sundays, the one day of the week when the garbage collectors have the day off, it is overflowing with open trash and tree cuttings, so much so that it is difficult for even one car to use it. Had our local government bodies been active as they were eight years ago, this problem would’ve been dealt with, with only one visit to our union council office. It’s surprising how quickly we forget things.
Seven years ago, Karachi was flourishing — there were new underpasses, bridges, expressways being built and the ‘I heart Karachi, I own Karachi’ movement introduced by former mayor Mustafa Kamal swept the city with patriotic fervour. Over time, however, with the change in the political leadership of the city, we saw it crumble and go to the dogs. My city is struggling to be heard, and the only way it can be paid any importance is through an operational local body system — the one true essence of democracy. Ironically it is also the one thing our so-called ‘democratic’ governments choose to ignore.
Zehra Saadia Saiyed
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2014.
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