‘NDMA, FWO should be assigned city’s overhaul’

Former KCCI president says Karachi's shabby infrastructure must be developed on a priority basis

Former Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) president Siraj Kassam Teli called on Wednesday for handing over the responsibility of developing Karachi's infrastructure to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), with the bodies completing the task under the army's supervision over the next five years.

"We firmly believe that it is beyond the capability and capacity of all relevant departments working under the provincial government and the local administration to deal with the worsening situation [of the city's infrastructure]," he stated, adding that the majority of businessmen, industrialists and citizens believed the same. "The infrastructure in Karachi can only be improved if the NDMA and FWO are assigned the task."

Teli stressed that the city's "shabby infrastructure" must be developed on a priority basis under army supervision, and warned that the metropolis would otherwise continue to deteriorate, making it "impossible" to live and do business there.

Calling for the federal and Sindh governments to release sufficient funds for the purpose, he urged the public to visit KCCI's website and register their support for this.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2020.