Chairman Businessmen Group (BMG) & Former President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Siraj Kassam Teli, while warmly welcoming finalization of an eight-member committee formed for effective implementation of Rs1.1 trillion Karachi Package, said, “We appreciate formation of the Provincial Coordination & Implementation Committee (PCIC) comprising representatives from the Federal and Sindh Governments along with an official from Pakistan Army who all will have to make sure that the allocated funds are utilized transparently and in the right direction while the overall timeline for the development work, which is spread over a period of three years, has to be reduced to one year by fast-tracking the infrastructure rebuilding work.”
In a statement issued, Chairman BMG stressed that keeping in view the gravity of the infrastructure disaster and the endless grievances being suffered by Karachiites, PCIC, which is being led by Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, will have to devise effective strategies to fast-track the infrastructure rebuilding work so that the gigantic task of rebuilding Karachi’s dilapidated infrastructure is completed within a year instead of three years.
“The citizens and the business & industrial community of Karachi are living and doing business in awful circumstances in every nook and corner of Karachi hence, it is high time that the largest city of Pakistan, which contributes a mammoth revenue of more than 65 percent to the national exchequer and around 95 percent revenue to the provincial kitty, is treated accordingly and the much awaited relief in terms of infrastructure development is provided at the earliest”, he added.
He further suggested that the committee must also publicize detailed timeline and the plan of action for infrastructure development in which itemized details of all the projects, particularly the funds allocated along with commencement and completion dates of various projects must be notified which would go in favor of the government as it would help in dealing with the trust deficit and encourage the masses to stay calm and wait patiently for a positive change but this change for good must not take too long and Karachiites must get it in a year.
Siraj Teli, while extending Karachi Chamber’s full support and cooperation to the federal and provincial governments for all their endeavors focused on doing something good for Karachi, hoped that the decision makers would pay special attention to the plight of Karachi which has been ignored since last more than two decades.