Prime Minister Imran Khan is visiting Sialkot today to inaugurate AirSial, a private airline established by the business community of the city, and to announce projects worth Rs 17 billion but amidst development plans for financial hubs of Pakistan, the megacity Karachi is longing for the government’s attention.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has announced several development projects in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) where it is in power.
However, the issues of Karachi have apparently been put on the backburner and its locals have started to become disappointed with Imran Khan as they expect the same attention from him like Sialkot and other financial hubs.
It was only rain-led devastation that drew the attention of the incumbent government to Karachi.
It then announced the Karachi Transformation Package (KTP) for the metropolis worth Rs 739 billion to revive the city’s infrastructure which was welcomed by citizens of the megacity.
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But, the city sees no substantial progress since the announcement.
If things are done late under the Karachi Transformation Package, the outcomes may prove to be futile.
Role private ownership can play
Further, even though the condition of Karachi’s infrastructure is where not many of its locals ever wanted to see, the business community of the metropolis has not come forward like the business magnates of Sialkot.
The businessmen of Karachi have although raised voices against the city’s neglect by the provincial and federal governments.
However, they have not come into action to save the city plunging into ruin when there is no such much potential lying in various sectors that could be explored.
There are various options where the business community of Karachi can invest under private capacity to open a new window of opportunity for themselves as well as facilitating the citizens.
It is yet to be seen when the Prime Minister visits Karachi again and ensure execution of plans under KTP at the earliest before next year’s monsoon wrecks the city again.