Karachi: Senior Minister Sindh Sharjeel Inam Memon has rejected Farooq Sattar’s allegations and said that he is one of the biggest magicians in politics, his allegations are more political magic than reality.
In his statement, Senior Minister of Sindh and Provincial Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that before unnecessarily criticizing the Sindh government, Farooq Sattar should have studied the facts and figures. The Sindh government has paid more than Rs 160 billion in arrears and pensions in the last 5 years.
He said that institutions like KMC, KDA and Water Board are independent, which are responsible for their own financial responsibilities. The Sindh government gave an additional grant of about Rs 20 billion to the local bodies of Karachi alone last year so that they could overcome the financial crisis.
Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the real reason for the problems of local government institutions in Karachi and Hyderabad is the poor governance and corruption of the MQM in the past. Even before 2017, the local government institutions were with the MQM, but unfortunately these institutions were pushed towards financial and administrative collapse.
He said that under the patronage of the MQM, there was rampant corruption in KDA, KMC, Water Board and other institutions, fake appointments were made and resources were misused. The financial problems that these institutions are facing even today are the result of the MQM’s previous looting.
Sharjeel Memon said that Farooq Sattar is claiming that 80 percent of the liabilities are the responsibility of the Sindh government, which is completely wrong. Local government institutions are autonomous institutions and their pension funds and financial affairs come under their own purview. The Sindh government helped the local government institutions on many occasions, but these institutions failed to stabilize themselves financially during the MQM’s rule.
Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that jobs in Sindh are given under constitutional and legal procedures. If Farooq Sattar has any evidence that recruitments have been made on fake domiciles, then bring it to the fore. Government jobs were also given during the MQM era, was transparency ensured then?
He said that the funds that the Sindh government receives from the federation are spent transparently. If Farooq Sattar believes that Rs 25 billion has disappeared, then he should provide evidence, the government is ready for an independent and transparent audit.
Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the Sindh government is not afraid of any white paper, rather we ourselves will issue a fact sheet in which the truth about the financial corruption of the previous MQM government and the ruined local bodies of Karachi will be presented to the public. MQM has lost its political credibility in Karachi and is now making false claims to mislead the public.
He said that the Sindh government had completed several modern development projects in Karachi, Hyderabad and other urban areas, while during the MQM era the city had turned into ruins. If the MQM had truly cared for the people of Karachi and Hyderabad, these institutions would not have been in financial crisis today.
Sharjeel Inam Memon said that Farooq Sattar and the MQM were making allegations against the Sindh government to cover up their failures. The fact is that the way the local bodies were run in the past has created today’s problems. The Sindh government stands with the people of Karachi and will provide all possible relief, but the MQM will also have to account for the looting that took place in the past.
