President Pervez Musharraf vowed to pull Pakistan out of the mire of political turbulence and extremism. He declared this at the balloting ceremony of 9,000 plots in Hawkesbay Scheme No. 42, a project of the Lyari Development Authority (LDA), held at Governor House on Saturday.
Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad, City Nazim Mustafa Kamal, Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil, provincial ministers and LDA DG Agha Maqsood Abbas were present.
The president, who was invited as chief guest, said that there is an urgent need to solve political issues and root out extremism from Pakistan if it is to survive and move forward.
“Pakistan came into being for the Muslims of South Asia and it will live forever,” he said.
Referring to the balloting, the president said that his mission has always been to work for the poor and this was the fourth time that he was chairing a balloting ceremony. While pointing out that 120,000 plots have been sold so far through different ballot schemes, Musharraf announced that an additional 100,000 small plots will be made available in Taisar Town so that more poor people will benefit.
He said that while he was flying over the Lyari River, he saw people living on the riverbed and surrounded by sewerage water. He said that these people were given land and money so that they too were able to live in decent conditions.
He appreciated the dynamism of Governor Dr Ishrat-ul- Ebad and City Nazim Mustafa Kamal for thinking on the right lines and said that their efforts to provide shelter to the poor must be acknowledged by all.
While referring to various development projects in Karachi, including housing schemes, construction of bridges, flyovers, underpasses and new roads, improvements in the sewerage system, recreational projects like the Bagh Ibn-e-Qasim, Quaid-e-Azam Park and the Beach Park and new water projects like K-III etc, the president applauded the governor and nazim for their role and encouraged them to keep up the good work.
During the electronic balloting, 5,000 240-sq yard plots and 4,000 400-sq yard plots in Hawkesbay Scheme 42 were sold.
The governor said that this was a continuation of the eight-year old vision of President Musharraf. He said that since the revival of the Taisar Town housing scheme after a period of 30 years, more than 100,000 plots in the scheme have been awarded to deserving people.
Ebad also acknowledged the CDGK’s harmonious relationship with Sindh Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani while carrying out this social welfare task. He said that Sindh’s coalition government understands that peace and harmony are necessary to ensure prosperity to the poor.
City Nazim Mustafa Kamal appreciated Dr Ebad’s personal interest in the Hawkesbay scheme and said that this could be gauged from the governor’s repeated visits to the area, which ensured that it has proper roads and electricity. He promised that sewerage and water facilities will be soon provided too.
Kamal pointed out that over 31,000 applications have been received from people falling under various categories, including general public, civil servants, retired employees, widows, orphans and overseas Pakistanis for the 9,000 plots about nine months back. An error-free and transparent system was adopted by NADRA for allotment purposes.
He also credited MQM Chief Altaf Hussain for bringing the middle class to the fore of welfare schemes. Kamal said that the city government has so far given 125,000 plots, for which credit goes to his whole team, which includes its leader, the president.
Sindh government disowns residential project: During her press conference the Sindh Information Minister, Shazia Marri said that the provincial government has no link with residential project announced by the Lyari Development Authority at Hawkesbay scheme- 42. According to her, the city nazim had not consulted the Sindh chief minister or the local government minister about the land. app/staff report
