SUKKUR:
In one of his first public appearances, the new minister for environment and alternative energy announced his plans for the department which will focus on areas previously neglected.
When this ministry was under the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), proper attention was not given to it, said Shahyar Mahar at a press conference at Circuit House on Wednesday. He belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-Q that became part of the coalition after the MQM left. As a result, he and other PML-Q MPAs were given the ministries that the MQM MPAs resigned from.
According to Mahar, who hails from Shikarpur, the MQM only paid attention to Karachi and Hyderabad. Sukkur, Larkana, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Ghotki, Khairpur and other cities and towns were neglected and nothing was done to improve their environment.
“The first and foremost work of my ministry will be the proper disposal of hospital and solid waste,” said Mahar. His ministry is opening an office in Sukkur. Their priority will be to develop wind turbines and solar panels. To start off with the department of alternative energy has been allotted 34,000 acres between Nooriabad and Jhampir, where wind turbines will produce 200 megawatts.
Politics
The new minister did not fail to touch upon politics - especially since the MQM left the Sindh coalition, paving the way for the PML-Functional and PML-Q to enter. “The alliance of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the PML-Q is the need of both the parties,” Mahr said. Just as alliances are built between Opposition parties, they can also be built between the government and other parties.
According to him, the alliance between the PPP and the PML-Q would “strengthen” the country. “A strong Pakistan is in everybody’s interest and the present government will complete its five-year tenure,” he added.
Mahar also chose to comment on violence in Karachi. Everybody knows who is responsible for the killings, but nobody wants to name names, he said. “In fact, everybody wants the others to point out the names.”
In Karachi, the PPP, Awami National Party and the MQM are in the government and even though they claim that the target killers do not belong to their parties, it is evident that these men enjoy political patronage from one party or the other. “The PML-Q is ready to serve as a bridge between the parties in Karachi in order to bring peace,” he said.
To a question on a separate province in Sindh, Mahar said it was simply impossible and only “anti-Pakistani” people could think like this.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 28th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ