Jam Sadiq flyover to open for traffic by Oct 17

Despite evidence to the contrary, provincial local bodies minister claims work completed before deadline

KARACHI: The 23-year-old Jam Sadiq Flyover has been closed for traffic due to repairs since March of this year. The work was supposed to be completed by May. Six months on, with a Rs0.1 million fine imposed on the contractor, Kamran and Company, for the delay, it is still not open to public.

However, the provincial minister for local bodies, Nasir Hussain Shah, insisted that the flyover has been completed before the deadline and will be open for traffic by October 17.

On Wednesday, he visited the flyover and assured that it would be inaugurated within four to five days. While talking to the media, he said that the flyover has been repaired within less than six months. He said that the repair work on the flyover started on March 17 and will be completed by October 17.



Further, Shah said that the Pakistan Peoples Party would appeal in the Supreme Court against the decision of the Sindh High Court (SHC) regarding delimitation in the local bodies' election. He feared that due to SHC's decision the local bodies' election could be delayed.

Shah also appealed to the courts not to issue stay orders against actions taken against the corrupt officers in Sindh. He said that recently, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation's senior director of local taxes was suspended for not removing bill boards from the streets of Karachi but the director sought shelter under the court's stay order.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2015.