KARACHI – Sindh Governor Imran Ismail has said that PPP had promised to appoint a non-political administrator in Karachi in the Karachi Transformation Committee and as the governor of the province, I will not allow the Sindh government to renege on its promise.
He said this while addressing to the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) inauguration ceremony of fire station on Thursday.
KATI Patron-in-Chief SM Muneer, President KATI Saleem-uz-Zaman, KITE Chief Executive Zubair Chhaya and PTI leader Shamim Naqvi were also present on the occasion.
Imran Ismail said KATI has built the best fire station. The issue of minimum salary of Rs. 25,000 belongs to the entire Sindh government. The Sindh government had agreed with the federation before the budget that the minimum wage would be Rs. 20,000 in the whole country but the Sindh government has set the minimum wage at Rs. 25,000 using the 18th amendment option.
Governor Sindh said that the chairman of EOBI would be appointed in one to two days. EOBI will soon be seen to be doing a better job. For the first time for the middle class, it has launched a special discount scheme for small car families.
He said that he has taken special grant for Karachi from the Prime Minister. A committee has been formed to spend this grant on Karachi in which traders will also be represented. Peace has been established in Balochistan and traders and industrialists should set up industries there.
Governor Sindh added that unwise decisions would drive industries out of Karachi. The wages of workers should be the same across the country. Industries have now started shifting from Karachi to Balochistan as water is available in Balochistan with peace, labor is cheap and land is also cheap, he added.
He said that the condition of Water Board is very bad and its employees are happy but customers are sad and upset.
Earlier, KATI Patron-in-Chief SM Muneer said that the budget of the federal government was business friendly. It will yield good results and the economy will improve. For good performance, the business community must be represented in government institutions. Those who do not want to pay taxes are objecting to budget measures. He proposed Zahid Saeed to be appointed as Chairman EOBI, which shall be a wise decision.
At the ceremony, KATI President Saleem-uz-Zaman thanked the Korangi Association for gifting two fire tenders and said that our commitment is to build an ideal fire station. Despite the rigors of the IMF program, the government provided a balanced budget.
Zubair Chhaya said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has given a valuable gift, for which we are grateful. He stressed that there is no chairman of EOBI due to which the employees are facing difficulties. The minimum wage should be the same across the country.
Water is a big problem for the KATI industrialists. The industrialists are forced to buy water from the tanker mafia at high prices to meet their needs. The federal government had approved a grant for Karachi but the amount has not been received yet.
Member Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi said that wrong decision has been taken to appoint Murtaza Wahab as the administrator of the city in which he lost the election. It was agreed to appoint a neutral administrator from Karachi. Murtaza Wahab did nothing but spoon-feeding. Murtaza Wahab has nothing to do but insult and spoon-feeding.