No traffic signal in entire PS 118 constituency, says MPA

MQM-P lawmaker apprises Sindh Assembly of situation in Orangi

KARACHI:

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) lawmaker Adeel Shahzad surprised the Sindh Assembly on Thursday when he told members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) that the PS-118 constituency in Karachi’s West district, from where he has been elected, does not have even a single traffic signal.

“I’m challenging the local government minister and other government authorities to find one traffic signal in the area,” he said while addressing the House during the pre-budget session of the assembly in which a host of issues have been discussed. “This causes a number of road accidents every day.”

MPA Shahzad’s constituency falls in Orangi Town, counted among the world’s largest slums. The infrastructure is inadequate, sewage non-existent and departments non-responsive. The lawmaker said that billions are set aside in the budget every year to build road networks, but almost all the main and link roads in his constituency were in a dilapidated state.

Talking about waste management and sewerage, he said the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) appeared helpless to deal with their issues. “Whenever we visit the KWSB office for repairs of the sewage lines, they excuse themselves citing lack of resources,” he said.

About the law and order situation, the MQM-P MPA said that many police stations in the area were operating without mobile vans and motorbikes for patrolling.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Rabia Azfar Nizami drew the attention of the House towards child labour. “A staggering 1.7 million children are engaged as child labourers in Sindh. Harsh working conditions deprive children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity,” she said and suggested appointment of child protection officers in each district to get rid of this menace.

Leader of the Opposition Haleem Adil Shaikh of the PTI criticised PPP Chairman Bilwal Bhutto Zardari, who is the foreign minister, for “having spent Rs1.75 billion on his 47 foreign visits but hardly visited the flood affectees”.

Shaikh claimed that Rs1,727 billion had spent on the education sector during the PPP regime over the last 14 years. “But the state of education in the province is deplorable.” There are six million out-of-school children in Sindh, he continued.

Shaikh said that Rs1,440 billion had been spent by the Health Department but patients visiting public hospitals are told to buy syringes from pharmacies. He claimed Rs1,100 billion had been spent on law and order “yet it required another Rs2.5 billion for operation against dacoits in the riverine areas”.

Labour Minister Saeed Ghani had earlier spoke on the issue of PTI chief Imran Khan’s arrest but GDA MPAs protested during his speech. They said it was the pre-budget session which should not be dominated by politics. They staged a walkout.

Ghani, however, continued his speech and said, “If this was done by any party other than the PTI or some nationalist group, they would have been given exemplary punishment.” He criticised the PTI leadership and workers for attacking “unarmed cops” injuring more than 60, including a DIG.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2023.