Murtaza Wahab faces JI backlash over Karachi rain and funds

KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has given a strong rebuttal in response to the Mayor Murtaza Wahab’s recent press conference, accusing him and the Sindh government of failing to deliver development funds to towns under JI and failing to control Karachi rain crises, ARY News reported.

Following Murtaza Wahab’s recent press conference, JI also addressed the city’s emerging difficulties after rain, and claimed that the Sindh government is simply misleading the citizens.

According to the JI’s spokesperson, the Sindh government’s OZT (Octroi and Zila Tax) are only allocated to employee salaries, and in the last two years, no development funds have been provided to their towns, which is simply an injustice. “The mayor has no clue what to do, and he is attempting to misguide the people of Sindh through propaganda”, he stated.

The Jamaat-e-Islami spokesperson added in his statement that taxpayers of Karachi get no return in terms of infrastructure improvements, highlighting the recent Karachi rain crises.

Earlier, Mayor Murtaza Wahab had highlighted his administration’s efforts, attributing the recent urban flooding to climate change and excessive rainfall. He also indicated that Rs. 27 billion in funds to date had already been transferred to JI-administered towns.

Murtaza Wahab, in his press conference, also admitted shortcomings in traffic management due to Karachi rain crises, especially on Shahrah-e-Faisal, where three areas had blockages, disrupting citywide mobility.

Mayor Murtaza Wahab specified that drainage operations were completed on key roads, but main holes and road failures continued to delay traffic flow.

JI leaders disputed by claiming the mayor’s remarks as misleading and accused the PPP-led administration of pursuing “anti-public policies.” They mentioned that there isn’t a complete plan to solve Karachi’s city problems and criticised the supposed unfairness in how funds are distributed.

This disagreement shows the increasing tension between Karachi’s local government and opposition parties, as more and more people are frustrated with the poor state of infrastructure and issues with governance.