Pakistan quarters residents can live in their homes for another 54 years
Federal government paid Rs413m in lease to Sindh
The residents of Pakistan Quarters in Karachi can live in their homes for another 54 years after the Sindh government extended the lease.
The issue of Pakistan Quarters lease was expired since 1995.
PTI MPA from Sindh Jamal Siddiqui said that the federal government had paid Rs413 million to the Sindh government for the extension of the lease. “Today, the Sindh government has renewed the Pakistan Quarters lease,” Siddiqui said and showed one of the leased documents.
He said that the federal government is starting a housing project for the residents of Pakistan Quarters. He said that the project was discussed at the Sindh governor house during his one-day visit on Tuesday.
Karachi transformation package
PM Khan chaired a meeting of the Karachi Transformation Committee on Wednesday. The participants, which included all stakeholders, reviewed the progress on development projects worth Rs1,100 billion.
The Sindh government would be instructed to complete the work assigned to it. “Imran Khan’s heart beats with Karachi,” Sindh Assembly’s opposition leader Haleem Adil Sheikh claimed.
On September 5, 2020 the PM had announced a Rs1,100 billion package for Karachi. He said the money would be spent on different development projects and issues such as water shortage, sanitation, roads, and nullahs among others.
Where is Sindh CM?
It is being reported that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah did not welcome the PM on his arrival to Karachi.
He didn’t even participate in the meeting on the Karachi transformation package as he wasn’t invited to attend it. Karachi transformation package is a big part of the Sindh government, said the provincial government’s spokesperson.
The Sindh government and the ruling PTI don’t see eye-to-eye on a number of topics. The problems started off between Sindh Governor Imran Ismail of the PTI and the PPP-led Sindh government, according to SAMAA TV political reporter Sanjay Sadhwani, who has covered it extensively. The governor is Imran Khan’s representative in Sindh, or the federal government’s man to put it simply.
That sets the dynamic up as PTI vs PPP, which has the majority here. It began when the Sindh government would send its bills for the Governor to sign into law after the assembly had passed them. He would refuse, thereby frustrating the PPP’s lawmaking.
For example, in May 2019, the Sindh Assembly MPAs voted and passed a bill to do away with a 158-year-old police law and bring in reforms to the force so its officers are more accountable and come under less political pressure. But Governor Imran Ismail did not sign the change into law and instead returned the bill to the assembly, saying it did not achieve reform. (Replace the Police Act of 1861 and revive the Police Order 2002).
Then the two sides locked horns over Police IG Kaleem Imam in January 2020. There was disagreement over who should replace him. Sindh recommended some names but PTI allies were not on board.
Then Covid hit and on the very day Imran Khan announced he would not be imposing a lockdown, the Sindh government declared its own defiant lockdown. The PM gave his speech at 3pm that day and Murad Ali Shah hit the airwaves at 4:30pm. Then an entire year under the pandemic was fraught with squabbles over statistics, beds, meds, protocols, hospitals.
For an independent observer with no skin in the game, these openly aggressive press conferences laced with sarcasm, denunciation, and name-calling just appear to widen the rift.
Sindh would like to pursue its own agenda and the federal government, for all its power, does not seem to want to play an enabling role or meet it half way. Given the language used in Sindh, it is clear its political leaders are in no mood to either budge.
