KARACHI: After the dissolution of elected local bodies in the province, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Tuesday claimed that names for the slot of Karachi administrator, who would run the city’s municipal affairs until fresh local government elections, was being discussed by the coordination committee comprising representatives of the federal and Sindh governments.

He also ruled out the possibility that the future Karachi administrator would solely be the choice of the Pakistan Peoples Party government in Sindh and said that he, or she, would be appointed in consultation with all “stakeholders” without further defining the particular term.

“It should be made very clear that the administrator would be appointed with consultation of all stakeholders,” he said while addressing a press conference along with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar at Sindh Governor House.

The Punjab governor is on a visit of the province along with a delegation of businessmen and philanthropists to extend help and a relief package in rain-hit areas of Sindh.

Governor Ismail said there was a consensus among all stakeholders that the administrator should be an apolitical person having repute, honesty and integrity. The process to sort out names in this regard was already going on, he added.

“The working committee on Karachi, which was set up recently with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, two [provincial] ministers Saeed Ghani and Nasir Shah representing Sindh and Asad Umar, Ali Zaidi and Amin ul Haque from the centre, is working on the subject. I am not part of the committee but I know it’s actually considering names for the appointment of administrator in Karachi,” he added.

He said that the Karachi Transformation Plan (KTP) was being worked out and it was expected to be unveiled by Prime Minister Imran Khan in his upcoming visit to Karachi.

He said that all stakeholders would also be taken on board for the KTP.

“The federal government wants to extend every possible help to Sindh in this hard time without any discrimination,” he added.

Governors to visit Badin today

The Sindh governor announced that Punjab-based welfare organisations would provide interest-free loans for reconstruction and repair of around 10,000 rain-hit houses in Sindh, including Karachi, while ration bags would also be distributed among 100,000 rain-affected families in the province.

He said that he along with Chaudhry Sarwar would also visit rain-affected areas in Badin on Wednesday (today).

Governor Sarwar said that the purpose of his visit was to help the people in rain-hit areas in Sindh and express solidarity with the affectees on behalf of Prime Minister Khan, the non-governmental organisations as well as people of Punjab.

“We want to provide help to rain-hit people in Sindh with the coordination and cooperation of Sindh-based welfare organisations and departments,” he said.

“We all are Pakistanis and I along with my team will also meet all stakeholders including the chief minister of Sindh. We are here to extend help whatever we can offer. We have designed a Rs350 million relief package for our Sindhi people who were badly affected by the recent rains.”

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2020