State of Affairs

Murtaza Wahab discusses infrastructure repair, tax collection, flood relief, crime, and LG elections in an interview

KARACHI: The Sindh government has issued a total of five billion rupees to rebuild Karachi’s road infrastructure, which was severely damaged by the torrential rains during the monsoon season. This was stated by Barrister Murtaza Wahab, the Sindh government’s spokesman and advisor to the Sindh chief minister on law, in a hurried interview after attending a ceremony at the Arts Council of Karachi.

He offered a breakdown of the funds, saying, “The local government department received Rs 1.5 billion, and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) received Rs 3.5 billion for road infrastructure repair. The KMC has awarded contracts worth Rs 2.5 billion, with the remaining Rs 1 billion going toward repairing and constructing damaged roads.”

He stated that shortly after the monsoon rains, a decision was made to rehabilitate all major roads damaged by the rains. The Local Government Department and the KMC are hard at work, and our goal is to rehabilitate all major city roads by December 31. The government is repairing roads in all seven districts of Karachi without discrimination.

The Competitive and Livable City of Karachi (CLICK) project has received an additional four billion rupees, and the procurement process has already begun. The Sindh government recently launched a five-year project called CLICK, which aims to improve Karachi’s urban management, service delivery, and business environment. Work on the project will begin as soon as the procurement process is complete, he added.

Murtaza Wahab also holds the post of Karachi’s administrator. When asked if the KMC was considering any other method of charging the tax after the SHC barred the KMC from collecting tax through K-electric, Murtaza stated that the case was still pending in the high court and that he could not make any other decision until the case was resolved.

“I continue to believe that the court erred in its decision because it is the right of a lawful institution to levy a legal tax. It was not a new tax; we simply decided to collect it through K-Electric. And we did so because tax collection through K-Electric would be transparent, as funds collected would be transferred directly to the KMC’s bank account, eliminating the possibility of corruption. It was our sincere effort, but unfortunately some elements are opposed to sustainable development and the interests of the city, so they went to court.”

Floods

Speaking about the provincial government’s response to the recent floods, Wahab said, “We have made three decisions regarding floods and flood victims. The first was rescue, then relief, and finally rehabilitation. Thank God, we have now drained water from 90 to 95 percent of the province.”

He added, “The relief work is still ongoing, and we have provided rations, clothing, and tents to a large number of people. In some areas, the relief work is still underway. The rehabilitation phase has now begun, in which we must provide financial assistance, particularly to those whose homes have been destroyed, rehabilitate irrigation networks, rebuild road infrastructure damaged by floods, and assist farmers who want to cultivate their lands for the next season.”

The Sindh government has been working to rehabilitate all sectors, and in particular, the government has decided to give Rs 300,000 to those whose houses were destroyed, with the money given in Rs 50,000 instalments to justify the spending.

When asked if Rs 300,000 was sufficient to rebuild a house, Murtaza Wahab responded, “Look, the basic structure can be erected for just Rs 300,000, and I personally want to give them hundreds of millions of rupees, but the government will give those funds using the limited budget available because we are not Imran Khan, who announces and then disappears, but we are the political party that always fulfils its promises.”

Crime

In response to the incident in which a suspected police officer’s killer fled the country, Murtaza Wahab acknowledged that it was a sad incident and that the government would take every possible measure to bring the suspected killer back to the country so that he could face trial.

He noted that no one, regardless of social status, can be above the law and that everyone must answer to the law, adding that the overall crime rate is decreasing as the police work to control crime.

“We hope that the police efforts will reduce crime rates even further in the coming days,” he said.

MQM and LB polls

When asked if the PPP was under pressure from its ally, the MQM-P, he responded in the negative, saying, “There is no pressure from the MQM Pakistan. Regarding the postponement of local body elections, it was our genuine concern that there were insufficient police officers and that the situation was not conducive to holding local body elections and providing people with a sense of security. Parties that would lose in such elections would then seek to have the results invalidated. As a result, we believe that elections should take place when the necessary police force is available to create a sense of security.”

“The Sindh government is now prepared to hold local body polls, and the ECP’s decision to hold the elections will be included in the provincial cabinet’s next meeting. The ECP is a constitutional body, and the Sindh government will take every possible measure to carry out the ECP’s decision on local body elections,” Wahab stated.

The spokesman for the provincial government further maintained, “The MQM Pakistan is a federal government ally, and they have access to federal ministries. They have no representation in the Sindh government and are not a provincial ally of the PPP.”