KARACHI: The megacity of Karachi continues to be amongst least liveable cities, as the rulers at federal, provincial and city government levels are not interested in improving its living standards, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Sunday.
Quoting the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), he said it has ranked Pakistan’s largest city among the top five ‘least livable’ urban centres in the world. On the EIU’s Global Livability Index 2023, Karachi is ranked 169th out of a total of 173 cities. Only Lagos, Algiers, Tripoli and Damascus are ranked lower than Karachi.
Altaf Shakoor said that it is a shame for a major port city and financial hub of our country to become amongst the least livable cities of the world.
He said successive governments of PPP, PMN-N and PTI having support of MQM have badly failed to improve the living conditions of Karachi.
He said the rulers are only interested in generating revenue from Karachi but they shy away from investing to improve its civic infrastructure and social facilities.
He said Karachi faces acute shortage of potable water and corrupt ministers make millions from patronising tanker mafia that sell water to the citizens at a very high rate.
He said the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board doesn’t lay pipe networks in the neglected areas of the megacity because its corrupt officials take bribes from the tanker mafia.
He asked should the KWSB be handed over to the army to break its corrupt network. He said the provincial and city government would never take on the powerful tanker mafia because it is one of the major sources of their supply of bribe money.
He said the healthcare sector of the city is in shambles as costly private hospitals loot the citizens with both hands.
He said it is a nightmare for low income families to even think about visiting the private hospitals, why the government run hospitals are overcrowded and lack proper facilities of doctors and medicine. He demanded that new teaching hospitals in the government sector should be opened in all towns of Karachi, besides setting up freestanding emergency centres at union committee level.
Altaf Shakoor said without funding our poor performing education, healthcare, public transport, infrastructure and housing sector we can’t make Karachi a livable city. He said the poor law and order situation of Karachi is another worrisome feature of the megacity that could only be improved by making the police department subordinate to the local government. He said the city mayor should be made city police chief so that the grassroots level problems of the security sector could be easily resolved.
Altaf Shakoor suggested collecting a Karachi uplift tax on import and export of goods at the airport and seaports of the megacity and spends these funds exclusively to improve the living standards of this badly neglected megacity.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
Comments
Comments are closed.