Fresh uplift projects in Karachi: PM asks Sindh governor to complete homework

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday directed Governor Sindh Imran Ismail to complete homework regarding launch of federal government's fresh development projects in Karachi keeping in view the interest and welfare of the public.

The PM issued these instructions during a meeting with the governor Sindh who called on him at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), a statement from the PMO said.

"The meeting discussed overall situation in Sindh and the development projects recently completed as well as ongoing development projects in the city of Quaid (Karachi)," the press release said.

The PM, the statement said, appreciated the role of the governor Sindh in the completion of the federal government's development projects that had been executed keeping in view public requirements and the facilities being provided to them.

The PM, during the meeting, said, "Karachi's progress is the progress of Pakistan. We are fully cognizant of the developmental needs of the country's financial hub and the problems being faced by the people of Karachi.

In this regard, the federal government is making all out efforts to address the issues concerning Karachi," the statement said, adding that the PM directed the governor Sindh to complete homework regarding fresh development projects in Karachi to be executed by the federal government.

In this regard, the PM would chair a high-level meeting to consider options regarding the launch of the federal government's development projects in Karachi, the statement added.

Last month, five "disgruntled" Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) from Karachi met Jehangir Khan Tareen, one of the most trusted confidantes of the PM, at his residence in Islamabad.

The MNAs included Shakoor Shad, Jamil Ahmed Khan, Attaullah Advocate, Faheem Khan and Aftab Jehangir, sources told Business Recorder. The MNAs complained to Tareen that the PM, on earlier occasions, assured the PTI MNAs of releasing development funds for Karachi but did not honour this commitment.

"These MNAs have been trying to get a meeting appointment with the PM but have been unsuccessful," a source privy to the matter said. Tareen assured the PTI MNAs that he would arrange their meeting with the PM and request him to prioritise the pending release of development funds, the source said.

Following this development, the process of the release of the pending development funds was expedited and so was the execution of federal government's development projects, with PM himself monitoring the development initiatives in Karachi, sources told Business Recorder.