Mustafa Kamal makes 16 demands for Karachi

PSP starts a sit-in that will continue outside KPC till the demands are met

KARACHI: A day after his former colleagues from the MQM accused the ruling party of Sindh of neglecting the province’s urban areas, the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) chief on Thursday went one step ahead by listing 16 demands for uplift of the city and vowing to continue his protest till they are met.

“We will not retreat and will continue this movement for the rights [of Karachi] till our last breath,” the PSP chief and Karachi’s former nazim Mustafa Kamal said as he announced to stage a sit-in outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC).



Flanked by his companions – Anis Kaimkhani Advocate, Dr Sagheer Ahmed, Waseem Aftab, Ashfaq Mangi and others – Kamal said this sit-in would continue till the PSP’s demands are accepted.

“We are going to cover an important milestone in history of the country,” he claimed.

“Here there is power crisis, water crisis and sewerage problems but no one cares,” he said. “I have returned to the country in view of these issues. We have started this movement to get all these issues resolved,” he added.

He accused Farooq Sattar and other leaders of the MQM-Pakistan of securing ‘personal interests’ by making compromises with the PPP in disregard to the mandate given by people of the city to solve their issues.



However, interestingly many of his demands call for empowering the Karachi mayor, a position right now held by the MQM-Pakistan’s Waseem Akhtar.

“The Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) and Master Plan Department should be handed over to the mayor; mayor should also be given charge of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) and Karachi Development Authority (KDA),” he said.

Kamal demanded that roads network and hospitals be placed under the city government and that district and union council chairpersons should be transferred resources.

The PSP chief also demanded that work on K-IV project should be immediately announced. “Five garbage transfer stations should be established across the city, public transport buses should be increased. The K-Electric should also return the ‘overbilled’ amount of more than Rs100 billion,” he said.

He said parks should also be given under city government; provincial Finance Commission should be formed immediately and Road Infrastructure Authority should be devolved.

“District cadre system should be formed; punishments should be set to end the land grabbing and Hyderabad should be given a special package,” he further demanded.