PM Nawaz in Thatta. PHOTO: PML N
The prime minister said the people of the coastal areas had lost their livelihoods owing to the sea that consumed their agricultural land.
“Although it’s a provincial matter [to be addressed by the Sindh government], we feel that this problem needs to be resolved without any further delay,” he said.
The PM, however, did not mention the timeframe and the cost of the construction of the sea levees, stretching to around 200 kilometres in three districts— Thatta, Sujawal and Badin. The premier did inform that a feasibility study had already been ordered.
Nawaz also announced that the federal government will provide health insurance cards for the people
of Thatta, Sujawal and Tando Muhammad Khan districts.
He deplored that Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have avoided to launch “his flagship health schemes” while the other two provinces and Fata have already started the programme.
The premier promised that he will attend the launching of health cards in Thatta once the survey to enlist the beneficiaries was completed.
“I did not feel good when the provincial government said they will not contribute to this health card project.”
“The federal government will bear 100 per cent expenses for the health cards,” he pledged. In Punjab, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Fata, where the programme has already been launched, the centre is contributing 50 per cent of the total cost.
The PM also notified Rs1.1 billion for supply of gas to the villages in the two districts, Rs500 million for Gharo-Keti Bunder Road project, Rs200 million each for Thatta and Sujawal for the water supply and sanitation projects.
“We are ready to provide electricity to as many villages as required,” he told the Sheerazi brothers, MPA Syed Aijaz Shah Sheerazi and Syed Shafqat Shah Sheerazi, who organised the public meeting in Thatta.
Four legislators, including an MNA and three MPAs from Sheerazi family were elected on the PML-N ticket in 2013 general elections.
In their speeches, the two brothers blamed the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sindh government for ignoring development of their districts.
“We live in the tail-end of Sindh and Pakistan. When the floods come, our cities remain flooded for longer than any other part of the country. And when there is shortage of water, we suffer the most from dryness,” said Syed Aijaz Shah Sheerazi.
The Sheerazis requested the PM to build two medium dams for the mountainous regions and provide power to 250 villages.
Federal minister Khwaja Saad Rafique, Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair and the provincial leaders of PML-N also attended the public meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2017.
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