Laying blame: PTI holds Centre, provincial govt responsible for delays in rescue

MPA believes the provincial chief minister is too old to handle govt's affairs.

KARACHI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) holds both the federal and provincial governments responsible for delays in rescuing the seven employees of the cargo company who died in the cold storage room at the airport. The party has also held both the governments responsible for the security lapse that resulted in the attack at the Karachi airport.

Addressing a press conference at Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, PTI MPAs Khurram Sher Zaman and Dr Seema Zia said that the governments were responsible for the deaths of the eight men who were stranded in the cold storage facility at the airport. "Both governments have been blaming each other for the last two days," said Zaman. "They should accept responsibility for the lapse in security and delays in the rescue operation."



Zaman was of the view that the provincial chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had failed to govern the province smoothly. "He is an aged person and can't deal with all these issues."

The lawmaker said that the chief minister was also the 'captain' of the Karachi operation but the terrorists were roaming the streets freely.

"The operation seems to be directed against a certain political party only," he claimed, without mentioning the name of the party he was referring to. Zaman lamented that all routes to the airport were still open for terrorists and that security was still minimal at these sites. He said that the government had not learnt any lessons from the Mehran base attack.

The PTI leader, who was present at the site during the rescue operation, said that not a single government representative was there to monitor the situation. "The Sindh government doesn't have an ambulance service," he claimed.

"Most of the fire trucks are non-functional." He contended that the provincial government lacked the capability to handle any disaster. The PTI leadership has demanded the government announce compensation for the families who lost their loved ones.

Operation against militants

Criticising the federal government, Zia said that political parties were not taken into confidence before the operation against militants in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. "You should start the operation against terrorists but shift residents to a safer location first," she demanded. "The PTI won't support such an operation that kills innocent people," said Zaman. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2014.