Ban on gas supply to Sindh’s industries: Dharejo accuses Centre of biased attitude

HYDERABAD: Provincial Minister for Industries, Commerce, Anti-Corruption and Cooperative Department, Ikramullah Dharejo, has said that the federal government’s ban on gas supply to Sindh’s industries is a biased measure. “We strongly condemn the biased attitude of the federal government. Sindh is the province which produces 70% of the gas from which the industries and stoves of other provinces are run, but Sindh is not getting gas.”

He expressed these views while talking to the media persons at Shahbaz Building here on Wednesday.

Addressing the federal government, he said that they should not be forced to protest.

He further said that various political parties had been propagating that the PPP had made a deal.

“If the PPP had to make a deal, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto would not have been hanged. Benazir Bhutto would not have been martyred, and former president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, would not have spent 12 years behind the bar without any crime,” he said.

To a question, the provincial minister said, “The prime minister claims that he is fighting against the mafia while the mafia is standing to his right and left. These are the people in all kinds of mafias. Inflation cannot be controlled unless Imran Khan gets rid of these mafias.”

Replying to another question, he said that legislation was being enacted to improve prosecution and investigation in the anti-corruption department for which an amended summary had been sent so that the department could function more efficiently.

Earlier, the minister, while presiding over a meeting with the divisional heads of provincial departments at Shahbaz Building, said that PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had given clear instructions to take action against corruption.

He directed all the officers to deal with the pending inquiries as soon as possible within their purview.

He said that a process of self-accountability should be created in all departments so that transparency could be maintained within the departments.

He said that due to the negligence of the officers in the development works, there are complaints about substandard materials and delays which affect the performance of the government. Therefore, there is a need for each department to hold the negligent officers and staff accountable.

He said that if one had a complaint against the officers of the anti-corruption department, they should inform and strict action would be taken against the officers and employees involved in corruption.

The meeting was attended by Chairman Anti-Corruption Iqbal Memon, Divisional Commissioner Hyderabad Muhammad Abbas Baloch, Deputy Commissioner Hyderabad Fawad Ghaffar Soomro and 30 other officers from various departments.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021