HYDERABAD:PakSarzameen Party (PSP) chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal has said that Sindh needs devolution of powers and decentralisation under local government system. He said the prime minister would have to evolve a working relationship with Sindh chief minister to make sure that the federal funds were utilised in cities` development.

He was spealcing at a press con-ference at the local press club on Friday. PSP president Anis Qaimkhani, Shabbir Qaimkhani, Nadeem Qazi and Shoaib Jafri were also present.

Mr Kamal said that the provincial government had centralised all powers which he described as `over-centralisation`, maintainingthat due to thisnogovernance was seen and corruption was taking place everywhere.

He said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) was also exploiting this situationby claiming that the local government system was ineffective and LG representatives lacked powers. He said these people could at least exercise their powers to provide drinking water and lift garbage but, he alleged, they even avoided exercising these powers because they were more interested in corruption.

The PSP chief said that people had been anticipating that a change would indeed be seen in the system with the coming to power of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) with its much-trumpeted tabdeeli narrative but nothing had changed so far. He observed that the prime minister was not willing to speak to the Sindh chief minister and the latter was not ready to even receive the premier at airport.

He said that prime minister was announcing development works worth billions of rupees but not a single penny was being utilised in Sindh because there was no working relationship between the PM and CM. He noted that without such a relationship, the federal government could not spend funds in cities.

He said PSP believed that the question was not of money but devolution of powers and decentralisation so that a trickle-down effect to the grass-root level could be seen.

Mr Kamal said that the powers devolved to provinces under the 18th Amendment needed to be further devolved to the district and union council level.

He said that prime minister along with the chief ministers of Khyber Pal(htunkhwa and Punjab had announced new local government system for these two provinces. He wondered how Sindh would get this new system if the prime minister was not willing to talk to the Sindh CM. He said that Sindh did not need a package but a system because its people had the potential to develop their infrastructure.

He said that people only needed credible leadership. `The ques-tion is not of powers alone, but of character as well. People will have to review their decision because only blaming the system for the obtaining conditions will not work any longer. The PSP will hold a big show on July 21 in Karachi which will change the course of politics in Sindh and Pakistan,` he claimed.

Mr Kamal said that the public meetings held by the PTI and MQM-P were utter failures as was evident from their televised coverage. He said that the July 21 meeting would be a `referendum` against rulers for their `excesses and incompetence`.

He pointed out that price hike had broken everyone`s back because ahouseholdthatrequired Rs10,000 monthly expenses now needed Rs36,000 to make both ends meet.

He said the federal government introduced a new method to overcome deficit in recovery of gas bills. It was not able to plug leakages but opted for imposing taxes on those who were already paying their bills.

The government wanted to meet Rs250bn deficit in gas through new taxes. He said that the federal, provincial and local governments were pointing fingersateachotherbecausetheyall had failed to deliver.

Mr Kamal announced his party`s support for the strike planned by traders and business community for Saturday (today) against unjustified taxes by the federal government.