Karachi mayor laments lack of cooperation from Sindh govt

KARACHI: Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar said on Saturday that he could not deliver the goods owing to a lack of cooperation from the Sindh government.

“We were asked to serve the city with our hands and feet tied,” the mayor lamented while speaking to the media after appearing before an anti-terrorism court in the May 12, 2007 riots cases.

“Our powers were limited. We could have served the people of the city well if resources were made available on time and the federal government had given a financial package,” he said, adding that Karachi didn’t get what it deserved.

About the court order with regard to eviction of people from the federal government’s quarters, the mayor said the occupants had been living there for the past 46 years. “They should be allowed to live there. This is their right,” he demanded.

Commenting on the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in the city, he said make-shift stalls have reemerged at the places where encroachments were removed and denied that any concrete structure had been built there again.

He said the civic authorities could remove these stalls whenever they desired so and added it was up to the law enforcement agencies to stop encroachments.