KARACHI - City Mayor Wasim Akhtar has said the city administration has assured him of its full support to the ongoing 100-day cleanliness campaign initiated by the city district government.
He stated this during his visit to various areas of the District Central on Saturday where he reviewed the cleanliness drive. DMC Central Chairman Rehan Hashmi, Vice Chairman Shakir Ali, MPA Mehfooz Yar Khan, Jamal Khan, Azeem Farooqui and others were also present on this occasion.
Talking to the media, the city mayor said that he had a meeting with the Karachi commissioner on the instructions of the Sindh chief minister and the commissioner assured him of city administration’s full support to the 100-day cleanliness campaign.
The mayor said, “We hope this campaign will give a positive result. Special arrangements for cleanliness are being made ahead of 12 Rabi-ul-Awwal, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).”
He also met shopkeepers in North Nazimabad and asked them to refrain from dumping the waste on places where cleaning had already been done. He said the chairman of the District Central would set up a point for waste dumping in the area.
Earlier, a delegation of the World Bank met the mayor at his office. The delegation congratulated the mayor for assuming charge of his office and discussed with him issues of bilateral interest for the betterment of the city. The mayor welcomed the delegation and called for better coordination on the projects being undertaken by the World Bank in Karachi.
The World Bank delegates reiterated their organisation’s commitment to working for better quality of life in Karachi. During the meeting, the mayor informed the delegates that he was considering different plans for citizens and working on the plans to improve the existing infrastructure in the city. He was assured that the World Bank would provide all possible financial assistance for development of Karachi.
Akhtar said that he had a good working experience with the World Bank in the past. He said, “We are planning to generate our own funds to meet our basic needs.” He showed his commitment to development of Karachi and said that Karachi, the second largest city of the world, was primarily facing sanitation issues. He said, “We are relying on our team, elected representatives and union council chairmen for improvement in the situation.”
The Karachi mayor referred to his meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and said that Shah had assured him of his full cooperation for development of Karachi.
He expressed the hope that the World Bank would take the elected representatives of urban areas on board on the projects being undertaken in Karachi.