RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Sindh Assembly’s Friday session witnessed a war of words between the legislators belonging to the main Opposition party MQM and the ruling PPP who pointed accusing fingers upon each other for the decayed civic infrastructure and public recreational parks in Karachi.

MQM’s MPAs began criticising the PPP government after Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Khan Durrani denied admissibility to an adjournment motion of Syed Sardar Ahmed, MQM’s Parliamentary Leader, regarding reported transfer of control over Bagh-e-Ibn-e-Qasim Park in Clifton to Bahria Town for 10 years.

“It is disappointing that Syed Sardar Ahmed has not been allowed to place his adjournment motion,” lamented MQM’s Faisal Subzwari speaking on a call-attention notice. He warned that the MQM would go to the court to seek to reverse the recreational public park’s handing over to Bahria Town and also stage protest.

He lambasted the PPP government for ‘deliberately’ making provisions in the Sindh Local Government Act in its bid to hand over parks whomever it wants.

“Even the Karachi mayor has not been taken into confidence on transfer of Bagh-e-Ibn-e-Qasim’s control to Bahria Town,” he said, adding that some parts of the park would be used for commercial purposes, which is an injustice to the city.

His remarks evoked instant response from Sindh Local Government Minister, Jam Khan Shoro, who assured the house that neither the commercial activity at the park would be permitted, nor the public will be charged any sort of entry fee. “This park will be for general public. We want to develop this park,” he said, brushing aside the impression that the park would be used for commercial purposes.

He said that the park would remain under Bahria Town’s control for 10 years and they would develop and maintain it. He didn’t limit his reaction to this clarification. Instead, he retorted that MQM had seized parks and misused them as their offices.

“300 parks were seized for construction of offices,” Shoro said triggering rumpus in the house while PTI’s Samar Ali Khan, despite efforts, failed to get his voice heard on the issue amid noise. Amid the tumult, the speaker prorogued the house.