‘No sovereign guarantee for KCR’

The federal government has not given a sovereign guarantee for the Karachi Circular Railway, which partially resumed service last week, said Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab on Monday.

Addressing the media at the Old Haji Camp while inaugurating Pilgram Road, the provincial adviser on law, environment and coastal development, asked why the provinces were not receiving funds if the Federal Board of Revenue had collected record revenues. Sindh received Rs8 billion less from the Centre this year, he claimed.

Between censuring the Centre and decrying lack of funds, the adviser also pointed to Gul Mohar trees planted alongside the newly constructed road. The provincial government has allocated funds to construct roads, he said, adding that Karachi has never been given to public representatives and that was why its problems have increased.

Responding to a query, he asked when KCR was shut down. Then referred to the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government including KCR in China Pakistan Economic Project and barring that the party has ruled the province for over a decade, he credited his party for the intra-city rail service's partial revival. "This is a gift from the PPP. If anyone else takes credit for it, then that's a separate matter."

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2020.