Mayor of Karachi Wasim Akhtar on Thursday sought Jamaat-e-Islami cooperation to resolve the city's long-running civic problems, saying that "we will solve Karachi's problems above political considerations." The Mayor paid his first visit to Idara Noor-e-Haq with few members of his party and was received by JI Karachi chapter chief, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman and other local leaders. Wasim thanked JI for the warm welcome and appreciated the JI for assuring support to him on the city's problems resolutions.
Talking to reporters, he said that he had a discussion with Hafiz Naeem on several issues that the city was undergoing for quite long. "We will solve Karachi's problems above political considerations," he vowed, saying that the JI had assured him of working together the elected civic representatives to overcome the problems of Karachi.
"Whom the public elect cannot do anything for the public," he said, adding that the city had suffered utmost in the last eight and a half years and "everyone knows the reason". He said that the people were not asking the government for jobs but for lifting the heaps of garbage that had encroached over streets and roads across the metropolis.
Wasim said that he had a 'good' team to develop the metropolis but also asked the ruling elite to let the elected civic representation work deliver its best. "The JI has expertise on local matters and they had worked for the city in past. We want them to come forward and work together with us for the benefit of the city and its residents," the Mayor requested.
He asserted that the developing the city is top-priority, despite hurdles. "Bringing development to Karachi is my mission," he said, urging the professionals to join hands with him to bring the city out of continuing problems. "We united can serve the city and should do," he said.
Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said that the city is bigger than those of over 100 countries in the world, he further said, "we need to think positively. We cannot afford to live on heaps of garbage and with decaying roads." The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has a wider workforce of activists to help attain the goals of making the city clean and developed. He asked MQM to utilize its force in first place to solve the continuing crisis of the city. He assured the Mayor for a complete cooperation for the 'sake' of Karachi development and its future.