PTI against the idea of dividing Sindh: Sheikh

Says the federal govt will only give directions to provincial govt so it can deliver

KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh chapter president Haleem Adil Sheikh has said that the PTI was and is against the idea of dividing province, but the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is misleading the masses through poisonous propaganda.

Addressing a press conference in the committee room of the Sindh Assembly on Thursday, Sheikh, flanked by opposition leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi, PTI Sindh general-secretary Mehfooz Ursani, MPAs Dua Bhutto, Khuram Sher Zaman, Shahnawaz Jadoon, Ali Gigi and others, said that under Article 149, the federal government would give directives to the Sindh government, so that it would work properly and deliver.

He said under the article, the federal government would make its provincial counterpart bound to resolve the issues of the province. He added, however, that no recommendations have been made so far and it was also not true that Prime Minister Imran Khan would announce the implementation of Article 149 during his upcoming visit to Karachi.

“We have just started our work,” said Sheikh, referring to the ‘Karachi Strategic Committee’ formed by the federal government. “We will chalk out recommendations in which we would suggest how the problems of Sindh can be resolved,” he added.

Sheikh said that the PPP was telling lies that the federal government was not giving it funds. “The rulers of Sindh did not give water to the citizens of Karachi for the last 10 years,” he remarked. “In my constituency, there is no drinking water available,” he lamented, adding that PPP MPA Faryal Talpur was in jail due to the curses of the neglected poor masses. He said that the rulers had made Karachi the fourth dirtiest city in the world. “Mounds of garbage are everywhere in Karachi,” he said. “In these circumstances, we have no option, but to work for ourselves,” he added.

Opposition leader Naqvi said that during the last 12 years, the PPP government in Sindh had failed to deliver. “We have contacted the Sindh government many times but it is not ready to work to resolve the issues of the people,” he said. “Why is the Sindh government not giving due share to districts on the pattern of the NFC award?” he questioned.

The opposition leader said that during the last 12 years, the PPP government did not bring even a single public transport bus to Karachi. He said that the Green Line project was delayed due to the non-cooperation of the provincial government. “We do not want the division of Sindh, but the Sindh government has failed to deliver,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2019.