Memon, who is also the president of Sukkur Small Traders, was addressing a press conference at his residence on Wednesday.
"The dilapidated condition of the city is because of the disinterest, incapability and criminal neglect of the elected representatives and bureaucracy," he alleged, adding that despite Sukkur's size, no university had been set up in it. "Eleven years after the establishment of Ghulam Mohammad Mahar Medical College, its building has still not been constructed."
Memon said that Sukkur, a clean city until the mid-1980s, had been transformed into one of the dirtiest one in Pakistan. "Although funds of Rs22 billion have been spent in the name of mega-projects, the residents have not only been deprived of clean drinking water but also of other civic facilities, such as proper drainage, sanitation, health and education," he claimed.
"As if broken roads, overflowing drains and massive traffic jams were not bad enough, the load-shedding and over-charging of gas and electricity have turned the lives of the people into a living hell."
Taking a jibe at the elected representatives, Memon said that at the time of elections, they called themselves the guardians of the city and claimed they would solve its problems but, after the elections, they forgot about their promises as well as the people of Sukkur. "In this situation, what option do we have but to protest against them in the hope of waking them up?" he asked.
He explained that a multi-party conference was held on November 20, during which it was decided to launch a struggle to solve the city's mounting problems, and so, the SDA was formed. According to him, the first phase of the movement consisted of displaying banners throughout the city, to be followed by a protest rally on December 14.
This rally, with the participation of various political, nationalist, religious and social parties and groups, will start at Ghousia Mosque and end with a sit-in at Clock Tower Roundabout.
He added that after this, protests and sit-ins would be held at different places, including district administration offices and residences of the elected representatives, and this would continue until Sukkur's problems were taken care of.
Representatives of various political parties, expressing their commitment to the movement, vowed that they would not take a breath of relief till the issues were resolved. "Sukkur's elected representatives are leading luxurious lives with no concern for the problems of their voters," they said. "This is a wake-up call for them. If they fail to respond, the people will not spare them."
Those present included Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Dawa Khan and Ayub Farooqui, Sunni Tehreek's Mehboob Ali Sahito, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's Sarwar Latif, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional's Safia Baloch and Jamaat-e-Islami's Hizbullah Jakhro.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2014.
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