Federal, Sindh govts form joint committee for Karachi development: Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD: The federal and Sindh governments have formed a joint committee for ending the longstanding issues to Karachi, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar confirmed on Wednesday.

Asad Umar tweeted that historical development work will be seen in coming days as the federal government did not want to compromise development tasks due to political differences.

He added that Prime Minister Imran Khan wants to bring development and prosperity of every part of the country and the federal authorities are ready to work with the Sindh government for development projects in Karachi and other parts of the province.

وفاق اور سندھ حکومت کی مشترکہ کمیٹی، کراچی کے دیرینہ مسائل کے حل کے لئے قائم کی گئی ہے. انشاءاللہ تاریخی ترقیاتی کام ہوں گے. سیاسی اختلافات پہلے بھی تھے اور آج بھی قائم ہیں، لیکن ترقیاتی کام میں سیاست کی مداخلت میں یقین نہیں رکھتے. عمران خان ملک کے ہر حصے کی ترقی چاہتے ہیں

— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) August 19, 2020

Earlier in the day, Asad Umar announced that a comprehensive plan will be unveiled within two weeks for the resumption of development work on different projects in Karachi.

Asad Umar, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, said that the federal government wants to resolve masses’ issues as soon as possible. He admitted that development work will not be politicised despite having political differences with the Sindh government.

“Karachi is ‘Mini Pakistan’ which needs more attention. We are continuing development work in Sindh despite having differences with the provincial government. A meeting was held with a delegation headed by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah where the federal and provincial governments agreed to initiate coordinated work in six sectors including supply of clean water and improvement in the sewerage system.”

The federal minister detailed that the shortlisted projects will be supervised by the Centre and other plans by the Sindh government, whereas, consultations will be made regarding financial matters within two weeks.

He announced that one more meeting will be held in Karachi on Saturday to finalise a comprehensive plan for the development of the port city. Umar clarified that the accountability process will be continued besides completing the development tasks in the country.

Read: CM Murad meets Asad Umar to discuss Karachi issues

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah met Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar earlier in the day to discuss problems of Karachi.

During the meeting, it was agreed to form a coordination committee over the issues of Karachi. The meeting also discussed ways to resolve issues faced by the city.

The coordination committee will play a helpful role between Centre and Sindh government over the development projects in Karachi, sources told ARY News.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Ali Zaidi, Aminul Haque, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Muhammad Afzal, Sindh Local Government and Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah and Education Minister Saeed Ghani.