Another day, another plan: Mayor announces 100-day plan to revamp Karachi

Special attention to be paid to repairing roads and cleaning garbage dumps

KARACHI: In a bid to clean the city of garbage and repair the roads, Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar announced on Tuesday a 100-day cleanliness plan that will be initiated from Thursday (December 1).

Addressing a press conference at the old Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) building, Akhtar, along with Sindh Assembly Opposition Leader Khawaja Izharul Hassan, said that they have limited resources but an unlimited will to serve the city. He said that from December 1, along with cleaning the city of garbage, they will pay special attention to repair and carpeting of the city's main streets, which will be separate from the daily chores of District Municipal Corporations (DMCs).



In the 100-day plan, the mayor said, people from all walks of life will help them to make it successful. For this purpose, they have chosen three DMCs, which include East, Korangi and Central districts in the first phase of their plan. According to him, they will construct a hospital, school and a park in few of the union committees in these districts. "The KMC will help all these districts," he said.



The mayor requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to announce a special package for the city. He added that the provincial and federal governments should provide as much resources to Karachi as possible so that the needs of the city can be fulfilled. The residents of Karachi are expecting the government to work for a neat and clean city with well-constructed roads, said the mayor. "They are not demanding jobs or loans [from the government]," he said, adding that residents have seen that the government has done nothing for Karachi in the last eight years.



Referring to the funds that will be used in the 100-day plan, the mayor said they will utilise whatever limited resources they have. He claimed that by checking corruption in the KMC, they have saved some money, which will be spent on the welfare of the city. Talking about the South and East DMCs agreements with a Chinese company to lift garbage in their districts, the mayor claimed that the Sindh government did not take them on board before signing the agreement.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Hassan said that Karachi is deprived of many basic necessities and invited all the political parties to help them in their 100-day cleanliness plan to make it successful. Referring to the matter of mayor's powers, he said that the issue has been raised in the Sindh Assembly.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2016.