The newly-elected member of Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Coordination Committee, Haider Abbas Rizvi, said here on Monday that his party could play a vital role in steering out the country from energy and other crises but would not allow anyone to push one house into darkness at the cost of other.
MQM considered every issue of the country, whether it related to terrorism, economy or energy, as its own and finding solution of such issues was its priority, he added.
Mr Haider was speaking at a Press Conference along with other newly-elected members of the MQM Coordination Committee including Wasay Jalil, Mian Atiq, Khalid Sultan, Nisar Panhwar, Aslam Afridi, Adil Khan and technical expert and a newly-elected Haq Parast MPA, Arshad Vohra, at Khursheed Begum Secretariat, Azizabad.
Advocating the need for steering out the city from an `unreal’ electricity and water crises, he urged both the Karachi Electricity Supply Company (KESC) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) to help resolve the issue amicably through dialogue, thereby bringing an end to their mutual political and economic differences.
He said that the city’s electricity and water crisis was not only confined to the Karachiites alone but it was a national issue because the country’s economy was on the verge of collapse mainly owing to closure of industries in Karachi.
Accusing officials of pushing Karachiites towards an artificial power and water crisis on the political and economic grounds, Mr Rizvi said that such officials were continuously ignoring the decisions of Cabinet’s committee which, he added, amounted to sheer excess against Karachi and its citizens.
He said that at a time when the entire country was in the grip of serious energy crisis, over 20 million population of Karachi was facing acute power crisis while water crisis was also cropping up rapidly and as a result of which its citizens, on the one hand, were facing immense hardships in the current hot and humid weather and, on the other, its industries had been badly affected.
He said that although Karachi contributed 70 per cent to the national exchequer, some vested-interests officials of SSGCL had reduced the supply of gas to the KESC and, as such, their acts not only amounted to their incompetency but it was also a national crime.
He said that MQM considered all the issues including terrorism, economy or energy and whether prevailing in Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad or Karachi as its own and, as such, the party was prepared to help resolve such issues at any level.
He said that on the one hand, talks were being held to end the power supply of the city to the tune of 650 megawatt by separating Karachi from national grid and, on the other, SSGC was transferring 90 million cubic feet gas to the SNGC which, he added, amounted to Sindh’s enmity and a prejudiced policy.
Advocating the need for adopting a national approach for the resolution of energy crisis, he said that the need of the hour was to identify those people who are bent upon ignoring the Cabinet Committee’s decisions which amounted to an open violation of the Constitution and the law.
He demanded of the President Asif Ali Zardari, caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, caretaker Sindh chief minister Zahid Kurban Alavi and Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad to take concrete measures to help resolve the city’s artificial power and water crisis, besides ensuring that SSGC and the KESC must refrain from their anti-Karachi policy.
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