ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz on Monday said Prime Minister Imran Khan would soon visit Karachi and he was regularly in touch with the relevant authorities with respect to the current situation in the coastal city.
Addressing a press conference, the information minister said the prime minister had talked to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah regarding Karachi situation and assured the provincial government of providing full support to cope with the situation.
The present government is bringing a comprehensive Karachi transformation plan to address the challenges faced by the city, he said, adding that the plan would be executed with the consultation of the provincial government.
The federal government and its affiliated agencies were providing all possible assistance to the provincial government, he said. The minister said due to heavy rains, the people of the city of the Quaid were going through testing times. The sympathies of the whole nation were with them, he said.
Faraz said this was very unfortunate that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was playing politics over the Karachi situation. The party to which Qamar Zaman Kira belongs to has increased hardships of the people of Karachi and Sindh, he said, adding that hospitals, schools and roads in Sindh were in very bad shape.
He said the PPP leadership always disappeared from the scene, whenever a problem arises. Responding to a question about news story circulating on social media regarding Asim Saleem Bajwa, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPECC) Authority chairman and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, Faraz said: "I don't think there is any truth in the reports circulating on the social media against Bajwa, but even then he [Bajwa] should respond to the allegations."
About rejection of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-related bills in the Senate, Shibli said opposition parties were seeking national reconciliation ordinance (NRO)-like concession deal-under the guise of the FATF-related bills.
Opposition parties have only one agenda to fail the present government and they have nothing to do with the problems of people of this country, he said, adding that they only want to save the skin of their leadership. He said that the FATF bills were in the interest of Pakistan as the country could not bear the consequences of being listed down in the blacklist.
The minister also said members of the Senate and the National Assembly needed to decide in the interest of this country and support the FATF-related bills in the upcoming joint session of the parliament.
About the economic situation, Shibli said the economy was on the right track and the government would take further steps to provide more ease to the public hit by inflation. The minister clarified that sufficient stocks of sugar and wheat were reaching Pakistan, which would bring down its prices.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020