JI leader rejects ‘Lyari Transformation Project’, assails Sindh govt

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Chief, Monem Zafar Khan on Sunday accused the Sindh government and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of misleading the public with false promises and undelivered development packages for Lyari.

Addressing a press conference, he said that administrative failures, corruption, and a lack of basic civic amenities have pushed Lyari into a deepening crisis. He dismissed the recently announced Lyari Transformation Project by Sindh Local Government Minister, Nasir Hussain Shah as an attempt to “throw dust in the public’s eyes.”

The project, valued at over Rs25 billion, reportedly includes road construction, sewerage, water supply, parks, and green belts. The JI leader, however, claimed that similar announcements over the past 15 to 18 years including packages worth Rs35 billion, Rs102 billion, and Rs1,100 billion have yielded no tangible results. He noted that the Karachi Transformation Plan announced in 2020 was supposed to be completed by 2021, but as of 2026, the city’s condition has worsened.

He questioned the fate of the Rs3 billion package announced for Lyari in 2022, as well as the utilisation of Rs1.45 billion allocated to Sui Southern Gas Company and funds given to union councils. According to him, Lyari’s 13 union councils received millions of rupees over the past two years, yet no visible development work can be seen on the ground.

He announced that JI’s “Haq Do Lyari Ko” campaign would highlight the area’s problems and hold the provincial government accountable at every level. He described Lyari’s roads as badly damaged, its sewerage system as collapsed, and its water supply as critically short. Overflowing gutters and garbage heaps were common, he said, despite the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board’s Rs43 billion budget.

Monem Zafar alleged that corruption is rampant under the cover of contracts and tenders, including in the name of Chinese companies. He added that the PPP, despite being in power for decades, has failed to provide basic facilities to Lyari and is now making fresh claims after returning to power through what he called a “fake mandate.”

Later, the JI Karachi chief visited different parts of Lyari, accompanied by JI District South Ameer Sufyan Dilawar, former MPAs Syed Abdul Rasheed, and Haji Babu Ghulam Hussain Baloch.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026