JEDDAH, 28 February — Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi will not be the same in a few years if its new administrator’s grandiose plan is fully implemented.
“I’ve a vision for the city. I want Karachi to be completely transformed into a modern city,” Naimatullah Khan, an advocate who was recently elected nazim of the city, told Arab News in an interview yesterday. “The position of heading the city district government (under President Pervez Musharraf’s new dispensation for local administration) combines the role of a mayor and administrator,” he added.
Khan, who performed Haj, utilized the opportunity to hold a series of meetings with his country’s expats and through them some local potential and interested investors for various city projects.
His 15 to 20 billion-rupee plan envisages improving the infrastructure and providing and modernizing various essential services.
Asked to list the priorities, Khan said: “They’re a lot of things. Firstly, we want investors to invest in our public transport system. Aside from investment, we want world transportation giants to come and establish the system for us. We’re also concerned with garbage disposal and eyeing solid waste management experts. The city’s sewage system has to be completely overhauled and even provided in areas where none exists. The all-important water distribution system has also to be streamlined to provide piped drinking water in all areas.”
According to him, the city needs schools, hospitals and parks. “Some 1,500 parks need to be developed together with the beautification of the beach,” said Khan, adding that he had a free hand in his new role.
Khan, who contributed to the leadership of Jamaat-e-Islami for 10 years before being elected to the present position, said the Jamaat had been doing an excellent work in the entire Muslim world.
Asked about the fate of the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh – often referred to as stranded Biharis, Khan said: “We’re trying our level best to call them back. After all, they’re all Pakistanis. They’ve every right to come back. We’re in touch with these people (stranded in Bangladesh since the creation of Bangladesh in 1971).”
The Jamaat had organized a seminar in April 2001 on the issue of stranded Pakistanis and had called on the government to take the stranded people back.
About the law and order problem in his city, Khan said: “It has improved a lot. Of course, the problem is still there as it persists elsewhere in the country. I’m hopeful the problem can be tackled well and even solved in due course.”
Khan, who arrived in Riyadh on Feb. 17, was here yesterday when he addressed a community meeting in Aziziyah. He left in the night for Riyadh en route to Karachi.
