Administrative moves: No harm in making yet another district in Karachi, says MQM

Syed Sardar Ahmed spoke to the media outside the Sindh Assembly building.

KARACHI:

There is no harm in making yet another district in Karachi but major stakeholders must be consulted before making a decision, said Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Syed Sardar Ahmed.

He was speaking to media outside the Sindh Assembly building on Tuesday on the provincial government’s plan to carve another district named Liaquatabad from Karachi. “It has been a longstanding demand of the MQM to transfer powers at the grass-root level but, instead of deputy commissioners, the mayor of the city should be empowered,” he said.

The PPP government has also envisaged a plan to carve another district bifurcating district Central. This will bring the total number of districts in Karachi to seven. Earlier, the revenue department of the provincial government has made Korangi as a new district. The notification of the district has been issued but the government has yet to make its separate municipal corporation and appoint deputy commissioner.

According to Ahmed, who is also the parliamentary leader of his party in the Sindh Assembly, all major stakeholders must be taken into confidence before changing the territorial boundaries of the existing districts. “No one will accept the executive order in this connection but consultation is needed.”

On local government elections, he suggested finishing the delimitation process before proceeding with the polls. He criticised, however, the so-called feudals in Sindh for sky rocketing prices of wheat. “There is a monopoly of waderas and jagirdars in rural Sindh, who deliberately want to enhance the prices of wheat. Ultimately, people living in urban centre will suffer from it,” he said.

The MQM leader said that the provincial government should handle this situation by issuing ration cards to make sure everyone can buy flour.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2013.