KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Industries and Commerce, Muhammad Ali Malkani, while welcoming Karachi Chamber’s effort to promote positive image of the city through My Karachi Exhibition, said that peace has prevailed in the city thanks to Karachi Operation under the supervision of Sindh government. The situation was much better as compared to what it was in the past when curfews, strikes, killings and other crimes etc. were a routine.
Although the federal government committed to grant billions of rupees when Karachi Operation started but to date, they have not granted anything and the Operation was being carried out from Sindh government’s own resources, he added while speaking at the inauguration ceremony of 13th My Karachi-Oasis of Harmony Exhibition 2016 at Expo Center.
Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza, Sindh Minister for Environment and Coastal Development Authority, Dr. Sikandar Ali Mandhro, Vice Chairmen Businessmen Group & Former Presidents KCCI Tahir Khaliq, Zubair Motiwala and Anjum Nisar, President KCCI Younus Muhammad Bashir, Senior Vice President KCCI Zia Ahmed Khan, Vice President KCCI Muhammad Naeem Sharif, Chairman Special Committee for My Karachi, Muhammad Idrees, Vice Chairman Shamim Ahmed Firpo, Former Presidents KCCI AQ Khalil, Haroon Agar, Abdullah Zaki and Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra along with Diplomats from numerous countries and KCCI Managing Committee members were also present on the occasion.
Referring to concerns expressed by President KCCI over poor performance and lack of resources in Police Department, Muhammad Malkani admitted that the Sindh government was well aware of the issues and was trying to resolve the same.
He said that the Sindh government has been struggling really hard for its rights, including the province’s right to its own resources and allocation of more funds by federal government for development work but unfortunately, it seems that the federal government was more focused on carrying out development work in Punjab only and has been ignoring Sindh. Despite limited financial resources, Sindh government has undertaken development projects and they were standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the business community of Karachi and the people of Sindh.
Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Minister for Environment and Coastal Development Authority, Dr. Sikandar Ali Mandhro stated that because of the sacrifices made by officials of Law Enforcing Agencies, the city has come out of disaster and it was high time to look forward and forget arguing over the past. “We have to make coordinated efforts to improve the image of Karachi and we have to struggle very hard for the rights of Sindh”, he added.
He said that keeping in view the mammoth contribution of 65 percent revenue by Karachi and also under the Constitution of Pakistan, it was Sindh province’s right to demand enhanced share in income and resources which must be granted so that new development projects could be initiated across the province.
Referring to KCCI’s Proposals for Sindh Budget 2016-17, the Minister advised KCCI to further discuss these proposals with Sindh government so that they could be better understood and incorporated in the forthcoming budget.
Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly Shehla Raza, in her remarks, said that the Karachi Chamber has certainly exhibited patriotism by constantly promoting the positive image of Karachi through My Karachi Exhibition.
Referring to the Metro Bus Service and other development initiatives in Punjab, she said that all these development works were being carried out as the Federal government has been giving extraordinary attention to Punjab whereas Sindh was being neglected.
She said that although the 18th Amendment was passed to transfer powers to provinces but unfortunately, many points in the Amendment have still not been implemented by the federal government. In order to ensure total implementation of 18th Amendment in letter and spirit, Shehla Raza sought business community’s support so that the federal government could be urged to fully implement the 18th Amendment.
Vice Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Zubair Motiwala, in his remarks, stated that drastic changes have been witnessed in the overall law and order situation of Karachi since 2004 when KCCI started My Karachi Exhibition which began from just two halls and has now expanded to all six halls of the Expo Center.
He said that despite tough time, the business and industrial community exhibited resilience by densely participating in My Karachi Exhibition in order to promote the positive image of Karachi and tell the world that cowardly acts cannot shake the business and industrial community of Karachi.
Zubair Motiwala was of the view that despite serious law and order issues in the past, the Karachi city continued to play lead role in the economic development of the country and the city has been contributing 65 percent revenue which means a total contribution of Rs2,000 billion to the national kitty.
The business and industrial community of Karachi was willing to contribute even more but the federal and provincial government must ensure an enabling business environment which, if provided will surely ensure Progressive and Productive Pakistan, he added.
Earlier President KCCI Younus Muhammad Bashir, in his welcome remarks, said that ‘13th My Karachi – Oasis of Harmony Exhibition 2016’ was a well-recognized and biggest exhibition of the country, which reflects the true image of Pakistan.
He said that this year’s My Karachi Exhibition has once again been staged in a glittering manner and was an attempt to promote the positive image of Pakistan and Karachi, besides focusing on clarifying many misconceptions about the overall security situation of Karachi.
He also paid glowing tribute to Sindh government, Rangers and Police officers for restoring peace in the city by undertaking Karachi Operation which has yielded positive results as far as the incidents pertaining to target killings, kidnapping for ransoms, demand for extortion and other heinous crimes were concerned however, the issue of street crimes was still a very serious threat which needs to be effectively addressed.
He was fairly optimistic that if due attention was given to Karachi, the city was capable of emerging as one of the most peaceful and secure cities of the world.
Younus Bashir also underscored the need to devise a clear strategy focusing on ensuring long lasting peace in every nook and corner of Karachi city. He stressed the need to implement across-the-board reforms in police department because it was the police department which will ultimately have to take control of the security situation of Karachi on successful completion of Karachi operation.
The first and foremost step in the right direction will be to depoliticize police department, followed by intense training, strict vigilance, provision of necessary gadgets, arms, ammunition, bullet proof jackets and vehicles and complete transformation of police stations as per international practices, he added.