KARACHI: Despite receiving ‘zero development funds’ from the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government, Jamaat-i-1slami (JI) on Thursday claimed that its nine towns in Karachi had delivered significant development over the past three years using their own resources.
Unveiling its performance report at a ceremony attended by JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman and media representatives, the party claimed to have restored 234 parks, revived 42 playgrounds, rebuilt 73 schools and improved their condition, made 19 dispensaries functional, constructed 10.56 million square feet of roads, installed more than 150,000 streetlights and supplied drinking water to about 130,000 households.
It said more than Rs1 billion had been spent on sewerage and water projects.
According to the report, JI-led town administrations also cleared Rs1.25 bil-lion in outstanding liabilities owed to town municipal employees.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Naeem asserted that the model governance demonstrated by JI local bodies proved that structural administrative empowerment is key to solving the metropolis’s chronic issues.
Turning his critique toward provincial financial allocation, he questioned where the Rs3,360bn provincial development budget allocated over the past 15 years had actually been spent, noting that Karachi received only a fraction of its fair share.
He further highlighted that the city’s share in the Octroi Zila Tax was drastically slashed from 76 per cent to 18pc under PPP rule without any public accountability.
JI Karachi chief Monem Zafar noted that the Taleem Card initiative, successfully launched in Gulberg Town with a value of Rs10,000 per card, would now be expanded to benefit 50,000 children across all nine towns.