KARACHI: Commissioner Karachi Asif Hyder Shah has said that keeping in view the massive size and diverse ethnicity of this city, it was a huge challenge to deal with civic issues but efforts will be made to resolve issues by regularly consulting with Karachi Chamber in order to provide some relief to the Karachiites.
“During my tenure as Commissioner which may last up to three to four months or may be more, I may not succeed in resolving all issues but it will be my utmost willingness to at least effectively deal with any two to three major issues on long term basis and bring them to an irreversible level”, he added while exchanging views with the representatives of business and industrial community of Karachi during his maiden visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Saturday.
Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, Vice Chairmen BMG and 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, Former Presidents KCCI AQ Khalil & Abdullah Zaki, Senator Abdul Haseeb Khan, Haji Ghani Usman and KCCI Managing Committee members were present at the meeting.
Referring to concerns expressed during the meeting, Commissioner Karachi said that he was currently not in a position to make any commitment but will try his best to resolve issues highlighted at the meeting. “I don’t want to make any commitment right now as I don’t want to face humiliation later on failing to fulfill my commitments due to any reason but I will try my best to resolve issues. It will be one of my top priority to regain confidence of Karachiites and bring it to a level where people should feel confident about getting their issue resolved to certain extent after bringing it to the notice of Commissioner Office or any of my sub-ordinate department”, he added.
He said that many of the issues highlighted by KCCI were pertaining to traffic jams, illegal encroachments, and violation of traffic rules etc. which will be resolved after proper coordination with KCCI. To take the business and industrial community on board, Commissioner Karachi offered to visit KCCI every month with a view to discuss and review the progress of work on resolving numerous issues being faced by Karachiites.
He informed that online mapping of entire Karachi city has already been done in which garbage spots have been identified at all districts of the city. “In this regard, a timeline has been given to concerned DCs for clearing the unattended garbage with a view to ensure cleanliness across the city”, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, BMG Chairman and Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli said that not a single thing in the city was working ‘first class’ except for population which grows at a pace of 3 percent in Pakistan whereas the influx of people in Karachi stood at around 6.5 percent and as of today, the population of Karachi approximately 230 million yet the city keeps moving only because of the efforts being made by the private sector.
“Not a single paisa was being contributed by the government towards health and education sectors in Karachi. It is the philanthropic contribution being made by the business and industrial community of Karachi which keeps many educational institutions and hospitals of public and private sectors operational in the city”, he added.
The incomparable philanthropic contribution made by the business and industrial community of Karachi is the greatest and cannot be compared with any city around the world, Siraj Teli claimed, adding that due to philanthropy of Karachiites, nobody sleeps with an empty stomach in this city.
