Karachi: The concerned Karachi-based businessmen and industrialists have earnestly appealed to the Chief of Army Staff to assume ownership of the provincial capital just for six months to resolve its basic civic issues, as the business fraternity in turn will help Pakistan retire its massive foreign debts.
Noted businessman and former chairman of the Association of Builders and Developers, Hanif Gohar, disclosed this as he appeared on the ARY News talk show, hosted by Waseem Badami, to inform its viewers about the recent interaction between Karachi’s business fraternity and Army Chief General Asim Munir.
Gohar told the TV show host that the representatives of Karachi’s business community bitterly complained about road networks in bad shape in the industrial zones and serious water woes faced by them while running their businesses and industries in the city.
The concerned businessmen mentioned that they had been demanding the elimination of Karachi’s “Water Mafia” for the last several years but to no avail, as the government and Rangers had failed to take action against those involved in water pilferage.
Gohar informed the audience of the TV talk show that several concerned businessmen in the meeting with the COAS registered their protest against roads in dilapidated condition and the continued water shortage faced by the concerned residents and traders of Karachi.
The concerned businessmen talked about criminal mafias involved in land grabbing and bureaucratic hurdles they faced in their day-to-day dealings with the government.
He said the concerned businessmen had conveyed to the Army Chief that they couldn’t meaningfully play their due role in increasing Pakistan’s exports and their investments in the country if they continued to face such serious issues in the city.
In his address to the members of the business fraternity, the Army Chief earnestly appealed to them to bring back their capital from outside the country for the development and progress of Pakistan.
He gave the business community firm institutional assurance that their repatriated capital would remain fully secured in the country no matter which political party was in power.
He assured the concerned business fraternity members that Pakistan was in complete safe hands and there was no question about its future or survival. The repatriated capital would be fully taken care of once brought back to Pakistan by the concerned businessmen.
General Munir, in his address, emphasised that repatriation of the capital was the only way forward for the Pakistani business community to help their native land secure fiscal independence by freeing itself from the clutches of the IMF.
He told the audience that Pakistan would be in a better position to adopt its financial policies independently as per the aspirations of the business fraternity only after securing freedom from the IMF.
Business fraternity appeals to Army Chief to assume Karachi’s ownership for six months
