Mehran Town factory tragedy: PTI leader reiterates demand for transparent probe

KARACHI: Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh Sunday reiterated the demand for fair and transparent investigation into horrific Mehran town factory incident. Addressing a press conference here at Sindh Assembly building along with senior PTI leaders Firdous Shamim Naqvi and Haji Muzafar Shujrah, the opposition leader said the horrific Mehran town factory fire incident was a perceptible evidence of PPP's corruption and inefficiency.

None of the relevant ministries and departments- namely Labour, Environment, Local Government and SBCA and municipal authorities- ever checked mushrooming of industrial units in residential areas without fulfilling legal requirements and safety guidelines, he asserted.

There were certain procedural requirements for establishing an industrial unit which included approvals, NOCs and supervision by the relevant authorities, Haleem Adil Sheikh said and added that all the legal requirements seemed lacking in Mehran town factory and even Supreme Court's guidelines in the regard were not followed.

The opposition leader demanded that fair and transparent inquiry of the incident be conducted and CM Murad Ali Shah and his cabinet members Nasir Hussain Shah, Saeed Ghani and Murtaza Wahab along with heads of relevant authorities be interrogated for their negligence and apparently corrupt practices as it was onus of the Sindh government to protect lives of citizens by ensuring the compliance of relevant laws and regulations.

Expressing views on PDM's public gathering in Karachi, Haleem Adil Sheikh said that Pakistani nation had rejected PDM's narrative and their leadership was concerned of the fact that people were not attending their public gatherings so they bring students of Madaris to fill the chairs that was against the political as well as ethical values.

By bringing the students in public gatherings JUI-F was jeopardizing the life and well being of children who were sent to madaris for acquiring religious education, he said and appealed the JUI-F leadership to have pity on innocent children and do not expose the under aged students who were not even vaccinated to the danger of the deadly disease.

Censuring JUI-F for their double standards regarding participation of women in political activities, Haleem Adil sheikh said that Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman could hold meetings, press conferences and public gatherings with Maryam Safdar but he was against women's participation in their public gatherings.

Pakistani women- from Fatima Jinnah to Benazir Bhutto- always played an important role in politics and political movements of Pakistan, Haleem Adil Sheikh noted and maintained that about half of the country's population could not be denied of their fundamental right of participation in political activities.

On the other side, the PPP government hypothesized that coronavirus only targets schools and it could not intrude in political gatherings and rallies while COVID SOPs were only meant for schools, shops, markets, restaurants and factories, Haleem Sheikh remarked and alleged that it was Sindh government's strategy to extort industry and trade in the province.

Haleem Adil also took exception of Bilawal Zardari's criticism on the federal government and urged the PPP leadership to present their performance and achievements during their 13 year long rule in Sindh. "PPP's achievements include deaths of malnutrition Thari children, water scarcity, dilapidated roads and infrastructure, heaps of garbage, sewerage ponds, closed schools, insufficient health services, and roaming dogs," he opined.

On the other side, Imran Khan led PTI government has brought economic stability in the country with their prudent policies that was evident from the significant increase in per capita income, exports, remittances, foreign exchange reserves, revenue generation and LSM production while special programs for youth, low cost housing and universal health coverage were initiated, he informed adding that priority was attached to expanded social security net, COVID vaccination, climate change, national highways and motorways and water storage.

Speaking at the occasion Firdous Shamim Naqvi highlighted the plight of the people of Sindh and holds the PPP government responsible. He said that in previous 13 years number of schools decreased in the province and number of serving teachers was 1,73,000 against 300,000 vacancies while 4.5 million children were out of schools.

Sindh government is an obstacle in issuance of Health cards to people of the province while people in other provinces were availing the better medical facilities, he alleged adding that PPP also hindered opportunities of employment and progress in the province by blocking the Bundal and Bhandar island projects.

In 2009, JICA identified 7 lines of mass transit in Karachi and so far only one of them the Green line is going to achieve its completion in a few weeks thanks to the federal government, he said and pointed out that provincial government could not start work on Red line in three years, Blue line was marred by corruption while Malir Expressway was going through repeated changes in design.

Sindh government was not convening meeting of Provincial Finance Commission while they were also reluctant of conducting local government elections sighting their concerns over population census, Naqvi noted adding that at the same time they were contesting bye-elections despite of reservations on census data.