CM gets defensive in post-budget debate

Shah says his govt has developed Sindh more than any other govt could have imagined

KARACHI: In the wake of criticism of the provincial budget by the members of the opposition, the Sindh chief minister claimed that the Pakistan Peoples Party government (PPP) had developed the province more than any other government could have imagined.

"Serious allegations of misappropriating development funds are being levelled against our ministers and bureaucrats," said an emotionally charged Qaim Ali Shah while winding up the post-budget debate in the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday. "Time will tell that we are innocent and all accusations of corruption are groundless."

Pointing out that Rs49 billion had been allocated for Karachi, the chief minister said that it seemed the opposition members who were unhappy about it had not properly read the budget books and were unnecessarily criticising the government. "Karachi is our city and we have earmarked more money for it than past governments," he claimed, requesting the opposition parties, especially the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), to appreciate their efforts.



Referring to development projects initiated by his government in Karachi and other districts, Shah blamed the federal government for creating hurdles for them by failing to release Sindh's due share in the divisible poll. "Our government conceived the Thar coal project in the 1990s but the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government shelved it," he pointed out. "Now Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has realised the gravity of the situation and during each Council of Common Interest meeting, he asks the relevant officials about power plants with Thar coal."

Before he could conclude his speech, the MPAs from the PML-N, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf raised a hue and cry over his repeated use of the phrase 'Sindh and Karachi' and walked out of the session. "You are dividing Sindh by using this phrase," said PML-N's Sorath Thebo. "Please use 'Karachi and rural Sindh' instead."

Earlier, the leader of the opposition, Khawaja Izharul Hassan lashed out at the Sindh government over the budget. "Time and again we reject the budget," he exclaimed, adding that although the PPP government had spent Rs4,094 billion in the last seven years, development indicators were still 'dismal'.

He said that 13 of the 15 provincial receipts shown by the government were urban-based but only eight mega-schemes had been announced for these areas. "Fifty mega-schemes are planned in the budget and most of them will be initiated in the rural areas," he pointed out, adding that property tax will only be collected from urban areas.

"The mass transit project that was part of the budget for many years is now missing," he said. "The Japan International Cooperation Agency has refused to work on the Karachi Circular Railways project, but you have earmarked the funds for it, creating doubt about your intentions."

Claiming that Karachi contributed Rs2,500 billion to the national exchequer and Rs61 billion to Sindh, he said that only a meagre amount had been allocated to the metropolis in the upcoming budget.

In response, Murad Ali Shah, the provincial finance minister, denied that property tax would only be imposed in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur. "All towns and cities falling in urban and rural areas will have the property tax."

Counting the schemes initiated by PPP in Karachi, such as the Lyari Expressway, Northern Bypass and NIPA flyover, he asked the MQM legislators what their party had done for the city in its tenure.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2015.