KARACHI:Sindh Senior Minister and Minister for Informatio, TransportandMassTransit, Sharjeel Inam Memon, has said that work is continuing day and night on the Red Line project and that University Road will be opened for traffic by the end of July. He said the public may have faced temporary inconvenience due to which the government took tough decisions and also apologised to the people.
He expressed these views while speaking to the media during his review of the development work on the Red Line BRT. On this occasion, Secretary Transport Asad Zamin, CEO TransKarachi Zubair Channa, and other officials were also present.
He said that the motorway in Karachi should have started from the city, but the opposite situation was observed in its planning. He added that Karachi is located in the last part of Pakistan and also faces a 20% water shortage.
He said that the opening of the Bhutto Highway has provided great convenience to citizens and is also saving travel time. Police, ambulance, and rescue services have been deployed on this highway so that immediate assistance can be provided to citizens.
Sharjeel Inam Memon said that Karachi has the highest number of health facilities in Pakistan and that patients from all over the country are coming here for free treatment. He also mentioned Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences in Gambat, where free and quality treatment is being provided to patients.
He further said that roads under federal jurisdiction in Sindh are in poor condition, while the Sindh government has improved roads across the province using its own resources, and work is ongoing.
He said that the world’s largest housing project is underway in Sindh, under which houses are being built for 2.1 million low-income people. He added that the Sindh government has invested one billion dollars in Thar coal, which is generating cheap electricity and benefiting the entire country.
He said that a terminal is being constructed on the Northern Bypass to address Karachi’s heavy traffic issue. He added that people from all over Pakistan come to Karachi for employment, and the city bears a significant burden of health and employment, so this fact should be considered when comparing it with other cities.
In response to a question, he said that Captain (retd) Safdar has no political standing to comment on him, and he does not wish to further comment on his statements politically. He said that Captain (retd) Safdar did not respect the sanctity of Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum and used inappropriate language during the election campaign.
In response to another question, he said that the Pakistan Muslim League (N)’s election campaign there was weak, which is why he was sent there; however, despite his efforts, the PPP will achieve a clean sweep in the elections.
He added that during the election campaign in Gilgit-Baltistan, public attention was focused on the PPP, while some federal ministers went there and made development announcements. He said that the rules of the Election Commission were violated and that it is necessary to strengthen the federation, with development targets to be set after the federal budget.
In response to another question, Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that no draft of the 28th Amendment has been prepared and that these are merely rumours, while the 18th Amendment was also supported by the MQM. He added that people do not take MQM leaders seriously either.