KARACHI: Facing harsh criticism from the opposition parties and the general public, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday defended the work of the city administration, which was overseen by his adviser and spokesman for the provincial government. He expressed complete confidence that his Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), “which is serving Karachiites with heart and soul,” would triumph in the upcoming local body elections and become Karachi’s mayor.
Sounding well-prepared and frustrated with the criticism his government was receiving following the “disaster” during the rains, he produced comparable data in an effort to demonstrate the Karachi administration’s superior performance despite this year’s far greater rainfall.
The chief minister claimed that everyone who criticised his administration were “the so-called champions of the city,” and that all rainfall had been removed from the city save for the low-lying sections of the metropolis in the least amount of time.Nevertheless, he said, “some so-called champions of the city are blaming the provincial government of failing to drain out the accumulated rainfall, but still the truth is that the city has been cleared, save for the low lying parts, by the evening of July 11.”
In response to questioning from journalists, he acknowledged that Karachi’s infrastructure had some significant problems that had seriously harmed the city’s drainage system but pointed to earlier “illegal operations” that had permitted construction over nullahs even by government institutions.
