Karachi politicians take pot shots as city fills with trash

IMRAN KHAN’S COMMITTEE LOSES EFFICACY EVEN BEFORE KICKING OFF

Heaps of garbage on Karachi’s streets and beaches continue to inconvenience citizens while municipal, provincial and federal governments blame each other for the civic woes of the provincial capital.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had on Sunday constituted a committee with special instructions to launch the Clean Karachi Drive and resolve the issues facing the city of over 20 million people.

The committee, headed by Law Minister Farogh Naseem, includes Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Zaidi, Minister for Planning Khusro Bakhtiar, Frontier Works Organisation Director General Maj Gen Inam Haider and others. It was directed to prepare a comprehensive plan for addressing the city’s problems, particularly the removal of trash from the city, and implement it.

However, immediately after its birth the committee seems to have lost its operational authority as Naseem clarified that it has only ‘recommendatory’ powers.

“The committee will forward its recommendations to the PM and Sindh CM, and will be dissolved 10 to 12 days after that,” Naseem said.

There is little hope left for citizens of Karachi after Naseem’s statement as they were expecting some meaningful move by the ‘high-powered’ committee formed by the Prime Minister with regard to removing the garbage from Karachi’s streets to landfills.

The citizens of Karachi showed their annoyance over what they called ‘lip service’.

“Unless they come out of their air-conditioned rooms and work on the roads supervising the entire operation clean-up, Karachi will continue to stink,” said Haji Khalil, a cloth merchant of Saddar, while talking to Gulf News. No one is there to take care of the city, he added.

Another Karachi resident, Zahid Shaikh, said the provincial and federal governments are busy in taunting each other and scoring political points.

Unfortunately, Karachi owns and adopts everyone from across the country but no one owns and cares for the city, Shaikh said.

New York Times ■ A mound of trash along a street in Karachi, Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan had on Sunday constituted a committee to launch the Clean Karachi Drive.