KARACHI                     -               Sindh Minister for Information and Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said the development projects in the port city are facing predicaments owing to the non-payment of Rs130 billion by the Centre.

Addressing a convention on “Problems faced by Print Media Industry, especially Small and Medium-sized Publications,” here at the APNS House on Saturday, the minister said that people coming from abroad were being screened at the airports.

About tackling the Coronavirus, Nasir said that isolation wards had been set up at Jinnah, Civil and Aga Khan hospitals.

He said the provincial government was well aware of the problems being faced by the journalists, and that it was committed to resolving all these problems on priority basis. Nasir said that following in the footsteps of his colleague Saeed Ghani, he would also work for resolving the problems being faced by people attached to the newspaper industry.

The minister said that he would also request the people working in the media to highlight the accomplishments and achievements of the Sindh government in the same way as they highlighted its shortcomings.

He said that highlighting sincere efforts of the government by the media was not common.

Nasir said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto had also directed him at the time of assumption of his office that all genuine problems of the media personnel should be resolved on priority basis.

The minister said that the PPP chairman had also given a message to bigwigs of the print and electronic media that they should refrain from expelling people working with them, and should also take care of them.

Talking about the distribution of government advertisements to the print media, Syed Nasir Husain Nasir asked the office-bearers of the APNS to form a committee in this regard.

The minister assured that all the suggestions of this committee would be implemented.

The minister told the audience that the Sindh government was not discriminatory when it came to releasing advertisements to the media.

Nasir also assured members of All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) that all their dues would be cleared within a month.

Reiterating that the government of Pakistan People’s Party had always believed in freedom of press and the welfare of journalists, the minister said the Sindh government would continue to look after the journalists in future as well.

Earlier the Secretary General of APNS Sarmad Ali and other office-bearers informed the minister about the issues being faced by the journalistic community.

Talking about the removal of encroachments from various parts of the port city, Nasir said that as always, the orders of the Supreme Court would be complied with in letter and spirit.

He said that firstly the provincial government would make it sure that people likely to be displaced by the anti-encroachment operation got alternative land, and only then their homes or buildings would be demolished.

The minister also said that the affairs of Sindh Building Control Authority would be streamlined soon.

Nasir said that the population of Karachi had increased manifold, and that’s why the government was facing multiple problems.

He said that constant efforts were being made to destabilize the Sindh government.