MNA pledges parliamentary support to resolve issues facing Karachi

KARACHI: Member of the National Assembly, Mirza IkhtiarBaig, has pledged coordinated parliamentary support to address Karachi’s longstanding civic and economic challenges.

Highlighting his engagement through parliamentary committees, he said key projects, including K-IV and the Lyari elevated expressway, had been taken up at the parliamentary level, with efforts underway to address funding gaps.

He strongly opposed prolonged electricity load-shedding that penalized regular bill-paying consumers for others’ defaults and proposed a meeting involving Federal Minister for Energy, AwaisLeghari, KCCI, Karachi’s MNAs and K-Electric to pursue on-the-spot solutions.

He also called for further engagement on the withdrawal of gas supplies to industrial captive power plants and its implications for production costs and competitiveness.

Baig congratulated KCCI and BMG Chairman ZubairMotiwala on electoral victory.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Businessmen Group (BMG), ZubairMotiwala, has called for an urgent drive to rescue Karachi from its deepening civic and economic crisis.

Addressing a meeting of patron-in-chiefs, presidents, secretary generals and representatives of Karachi-based trade bodies and industrial town associations, Motiwala demanded time-bound action, institutional accountability and measurable results, stressing that Karachi needs delivery, not promises.

Motiwala warned that unreliable electricity and gas supply, inadequate infrastructure and low industrial capacity utilization were driving up production costs and undermining competitiveness.

ZubairMotiwala proposed identifying five immediate priorities, assigning responsibility to relevant institutions and establishing firm deadlines and measurable performance indicators.

The Vice Chairman of the BMG, AnjumNisar, urged Karachi’s trade and industrial bodies to move beyond highlighting problems and develop a unified, actionable agenda to address the city’s civic and economic challenges.

To highlight the awful state of Karachi, he called for a common documentary exposing the city’s ground realities.

Vice Chairman BMG Jawed Bilwani urged Karachi’s business community to unite behind three to four decisive priorities, warning that the city’s longstanding problems would persist without sustained collective pressure and accountability.

Vice Chairman of BMG MianAbrar Ahmed called for permanent, direct representation of the Karachi Chamber in key government bodies and public-sector institutions.

Vice Chairman BMG Tariq Yousuf identified corruption and the networks facilitating illegal activities as fundamental causes of Karachi’s deteriorating civic conditions, questioning how roads and streets could be occupied by restaurants and commercial establishments, traffic violations tolerated, and illegal electricity connections established without financial arrangements benefiting those involved.

The President of KCCI, Talat Mahmood, proposed constituting a representative committee of Karachi’s trade and industrial associations to develop an actionable reform agenda within 15 days.

Reaffirming the business community’s collective responsibility, he stressed that 91 percent electoral support received by BMG reflected stakeholders’ confidence.

The Deputy Patron-in-Chief of the Korangi Association of Trade & Industry (KATI), ZubairChhaya, called for a coordinated, non-political campaign to resolve Karachi’s worsening civic and economic challenges.

Warning that untreated municipal and industrial wastewater was damaging marine ecosystems and that pollution threatened public health, he demanded equal enforcement of environmental laws against public and private entities.

Former president of KCCI, Zakaria Usman, urged Karachi’s business community to abandon ceremonial engagements and pursue an assertive, sustained campaign to secure practical solutions to the city’s decades-old problems.

Drawing on nearly 40 years of trade politics experience, he stressed that Karachi’s challenges were already well-documented and required decisive action rather than further deliberations. The Chairman of the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD), HanifGauher, called for a united, uncompromising campaign against extortion, deteriorating law and order, land grabbing and alleged corruption in Karachi’s regulatory institutions.

Leader of Pakistan Cloth Merchants Association Ahmed Chinoy called for a committee under KCCI’s leadership to translate Karachi’s civic and economic reform agenda into measurable results through a 100-day action plan.

President of the Korangi Association of Trade & Industry (KATI), Sheikh UmerRehan, identified institutional incompetence, weak accountability and administrative failures as fundamental reasons behind Karachi’s longstanding problems.

The Chairman of Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association Malik KhudaBaksh sought KCCI’s intervention over 15 notices reportedly issued by the FBR to petrol pumps concerning digital invoicing, maintaining that petroleum dealers operate as commission agents and that no legal provision, in his understanding, requires them to issue digital invoices in the manner demanded.

Informing participants that the association had already held two meetings with the chief commissioner of Inland Revenue and had another meeting scheduled with the FBR chairman on Tuesday, he expressed concern over the compliance burden and sought KCCI’s legal guidance to formulate a unified position.

The President of the North Karachi Association of Trade & Industry, Faisal Moiz, urged the KCCI to approach the federal government for a streamlined, business-friendly administrative framework for Karachi’s industrial estates, commercial markets and economic hubs.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026