KARACHI: President Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) Agha Shahab Ahmed Khan demanded that keeping in view the enormous urbanization, it is high time that the Federal and Provincial governments must increase all resources being allocated to this city otherwise the miseries already being faced by Karachiites.
Agha Shahab in a statement said that Karachi, which generates a massive amount of more than 70 percent revenue to the national exchequer and 95 percent-plus revenue to Sindh Revenue Board, deserves special attention.
he said “Our city faces huge challenges including poor infrastructure, dilapidated roads, chocked sewerage lines, severe traffic jams, inexistent public transport, water, gas & electricity shortages, encroachment problems and a host of other civic issues.
President KCCI further said that the standard of living has deteriorated sharply in the metropolis where the population keeps on increasing mainly due to the huge influx from all provinces of the country. he said Karachi is not in a position to cope with such migration levels.
“People are moving from the countryside to Karachi in droves, and for various reasons, of which one of the major cause is to seek better livelihoods and employment opportunities which are hardly available because of depressed performance of the industrial sector.”
He further noted that the metropolis, which is ranked among the bottom 10 cities in the Global Livability Index, is one of the most disaster-vulnerable cities in Pakistan where population levels are high. “No cohesive transportation policy exists for Karachi, even as thousands of new vehicles are added to the roads each day.
He cautioned that there is a threat to livability in Karachi, which has been acting as the engine of growth. Hence, the decision-makers will have to devise an effective strategy to save this city and provide some relief of perturbed Karachiites.
“Pakistan needs a sustainable growth rate of around 7-8 percent in order to deal with the ongoing economic crises and create at least two million jobs for the youth entering the job market, which can only be achieved if Karachi city receives an enhanced share from the federal and provincial pools”, he stressed.
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