Syed Qaim Ali Shah, a sincere political worker, started his political career from submitting to his law teacher at SM Law College, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. And, then he set such an example of loyalty with the thoughts of his leader throughout his life which became a beacon for students of politics. He became Chairman of Khairpur District Council in 1960s. When Bhutto established the People's Party, this lad of Khairpur's influential Syed family was his companion in his political journey. He contested 1970 elections on PPP ticket and decisively defeated his mighty rivals. Acknowledging abilities of this descendent of Syeds, Bhutto appointed him Minister for Industries and Kashmir Affairs. He was arrested along with Bhutto Shaheed during the military coup of 1977 but he didn't change his loyalties during the 11 years of dictatorship. The Syed family had to bear countless troubles for remaining loyal to Bhutto. After the death of General Zia, Mohtarma Benazir Shaheed upon her return to the country appointed him provincial president of the party.
After a splendid victory in 1988 elections, he was elected 17th chief minister of Sindh. Thereafter, he was elected to Sindh Assembly in 1990, 1993, 2002, and to the Senate in 1997. He was again elected chief minister after securing Sindh Assembly seat in 2008. He once again won the confidence of his leader Asif Ali Zardari in 2013 and was elected chief minister of the highest revenue generating province of Pakistan.
Shah Sahib witnessed many ups and downs during this long political journey during which a new political reality came to fore in the form of MOM and the peace of City of Lights got spoiled. Qaim Ali Shah, with the co-operation of his leader Asif Zardari, started a targeted operation against criminals and terrorists which is going on successfully, and the life has begun to return to the city. In the following interview, the CM covered almost all the important issues. Since peace is the most pressing problem of the province, the very first question put to him was on this issue.
Q: Mr Chief Minister whole of the country is in the grip of terrorism especially targeted killing, extortion and crimes like kidnapping for ransom are common in Karachi; has your government failed in curbing terrorism and other heinous crimes?
A: I'm not denying the fact that security situation is unsatisfactory in the country, but I have myself taken notice of law and order situation. If you make a comparison on the basis of data, you would come to know that targeted killing, extortion and kidnapping for ransom have drastically reduced. There were 700 targeted killings last year, this year the number has dropped to 270. Thousands of terrorists have been made to meet their fate. The punishment for keeping illegal weapons has been set at 14 years, which is an unprecedented act. Our government has allowed lawmen to make arrests without any discrimination so that crimes could be curbed. We don't claim that everything would be put in order in no time, but we have set targets for police and Rangers, given them authority and directed the high-ups to raid and arrest the criminal elements wherever and whenever they get information about them; and there is no heed of taking permission from me for it. Rangers and police are making raids and thousands of criminals have been arrested and challaned. Anti-Terrorism Courts have been established and the Federal Government has directed them to decide the cases within a week of presentation of the challans.
The Centre has also authorised Rangers to keep the criminals in custody for 90 days for investigation, and then present challans in courts with evidence. This policy is yielding positive results and we hope there will be improvement over time.
Q: People's Party has always been a torchbearer of democracy, sacrifices of Bhutto family for the party and the country are known to everyone, and many Bhuttos sacrificed their lives; had all this not created crisis of leadership?
A: Look, the first thing is that our party is the only party which has the distinction of being a true party of the masses. The PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto wanted to see Pakistan a developed country and bring the nation among leading nations of the world. He started Pakistan atomic programme after India carried out atomic explosions, but he was put to a judicial murder. Likewise, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto wanted to play her part for the prosperity of people but she was also assassinated. After her martyrdom, not only the country but the People's Party leadership had also to face many difficulties. The whole world is witness to intellectuality and political wisdom of the Bhutto family; however, former president Asif Ali Zardari assumed the party leadership in that difficult time. He not only proved himself to be a constitutional and people's president but also transferred powers to the Parliament. He put the country in the right direction in that much difficult period of time, restored honour of the country among the comity of nations, and announced the long due NFC award. He brought unity and ended disquiet among the party workers. Development works were launched not only in Sindh but also in other provinces. Provinces were given their due rights through devolution of powers and hence a real progress was made in the direction of provincial autonomy, which is a prime aspect of PPP's agenda.
Work on Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline Project began. With the production of power from Thar Coal, the electricity tariff will come down to Rs 12 to 15 per unit. Thar Coal Project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but energy from wind source would be even cheaper.
Q: What steps were taken by your government to address energy shortage?
A: Asif Zardari, with the help of our old friend and neighbour, China, formally started work on Gwadar Port agreement. When PPP took reins of power, the energy crisis was already there, and the whole nation was in the grip of gas and electricity loadshedding. PPP government initiated various projects for electricity production. Work on Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline was also started. The electricity tariff would drop down to 12 to 15 rupees when Thar Coal project starts yielding power. Thar Coal project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but wind energy will be cheaper as compare to coal.
Had work on Thar Coal begun in Musharraf era, the situation would have been different now. Chinese company Global Mining will invest $1.5 billion on this project. It will extract 10 million tonnes of coal. As much as $1.79 will be spent to producing 900 megawatt electricity and the project will be completed in 2015.
Sindh Government and Angro Group of Companies will invest on Bloc-II that would produce 3,960MW. Moreover, Thar Airport is being built and work on railway track is also underway. A transmission line is being laid at a cost of Rs 22 billion.
The Civil Aviation Authority had been given Rs310 million initially and another Rs l.50 million was given in 2012. For coal transportation L-link is also being constructed.
Rs 58 billion was invested on Draft P1, though we are facing lack of investment. Most of our schemes have to rely on loans and we face troubles when loan instalments are delayed.
Q: Sindh is rich in gas resources; what is the process of its distribution?
A: We distribute gas by keeping in view the national interest so that the needs of other provinces could be met, and neither factories face shutdown nor the country suffers loss. When the country faced shortage of agricultural products the previous government tried to procure 200,000 tonnes of wheat from Big Brother (India) but it refused. During the past two years we have made progress in wheat yield and now we are in a position to export this commodity.
Q: Please shed some light on agricultural situation of the province?
A: I have already told you about wheat situation. The cotton production has also registered 60 percent growth which has brought boom to the cloth and raw cotton industries. Rice production has also improved. Export of Irri-6 is yielding $500 million foreign exchange annually. But all the foreign exchange is taken by the Federal Government and the provincial government has to collect its share of revenue in rupees. The situation of our farmer is much better now. The farmer who used to walk barefooted now has shoes, some of them have cycles and motorcycles too while many others are also enjoying radio and TV.
Q: What is the trend of foreign investment in agriculture sector?
A: Foreign countries have shown interest in investing in Pakistan's agriculture sector which is very welcoming development. But, we have to focus on making our farmers and tenants strong and independent because 70-75 percent population of our country depends on agriculture for their living. We have to think about our own people first. We want to end unemployment and make farmers the real stakeholders in the agriculture web. The prosperity of farmers is linked to agriculture.
Q: How much progress Sindh has made in Livestock and Dairy Farming?
A: We are providing technical assistance in Livestock and Dairy Farming which includes provision of veterinary service, as Foot and Mouth disease is common in Sindh. Also, government has supplied fishermen with fishing boats and modern equipment to avert accidents. Karachi being a seaport, fishing is booming here.
Q: What steps are being considered for utilising floodwater?
A: Six to seven districts of Sindh suffered huge loss in 2010 flooding. Not only crops and houses were destroyed but large number of animals also drowned. Larkana, Shehdadkot, Shikarpur and Thatta are rain-dependant areas. Steps should be taken for utilising floodwater. Floods polluted irrigation water and also affected underground water. Now we are setting up RO plants all across Sindh; if the project succeeded, potable water will be easily available to the people. We are doing all this on our own resources.
Q: What are the health problems of Sindh your government is work on?
A: For solving the health problems, the foremost step is making a health policy which has been done on federal level during our tenure. But it is unfortunate that a number of suggestions presented by provincial government were not entertained. The health sector is not completely under provincial control. We have accepted doctors' demands and increased their salaries from 18,000 to 42,000 rupees. An automatic promotion system has been devised for doctors and authority for their merit has been transferred to them. It is because of these steps that they didn't go on strike like doctors of Punjab. Around 700 closed Health Centres have been reopened; and male and female doctors as well as nurses have been posted; while medicines have been supplied. Around 40 Rural Health Centres have been upgraded. Almost 70 percent construction work of five new district hospitals has been done. It won't be an exaggeration if we say we are bringing a health revolution. Our government has established four universities, two in Karachi and one each in Larkana and Nawabshah. Our country is facing such dangerous diseases as polio, AIDS and hepatitis.
The WHO is helping us to eradicate polio. A one-billion-rupee programme has been initiated to deal with hepatitis. The patients of this disease are being given 50 percent discount on medicines. Adeeb Rizvi Sahib is assisting us on liver and kidney diseases. We have a breakthrough in cancer cure while research is underway on blood cancer.
Q: Interior Sindh is facing shortage of doctors, what steps you are taking for maternity health?
A: There is a special unit for maternity health in Aga Khan Hospital but it has limited purview. Iran will assist us in building such hospitals in Thatta and Larkana while another two hospitals will be constructed in Sukkur and Mirpur.
Q: What is your policy on Zulifikarabad?
A: It was utmost desire of BB Shaheed that public welfare projects be initiated. I don't know why our political rivals are against Zulifikarabad. We want to see Sindh on the path of progress. We want to build new cities and take maximum benefit of natural resources. But neither any individual nor a government can effectively deal with these challenges single-handedly. Be it terrorism, poverty or disease, we all have to find their solutions together.
In the deserts of Sindh, a Murree-like area named Gorakh Hill is very suitable for tourism. We will promote tourism and we are building roads for this purpose.
Asif Ali Zardari launched Benazir Income Support Programme for women that bore fruit over time despite undue criticism by the rivals.