Protesters Trouble the Public by Blocking Roads, These Roads Don’t Belong to Their Fathers: Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab

Karachi: Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab has strongly criticized recent protest sit-ins, saying that so-called hypocrites are creating hardship for the public by blocking roads that do not belong to them.

Addressing an inauguration ceremony of development projects in District Central’s Khamiso Goth, Murtaza Wahab lashed out at the protest sit-ins staged by Jamaat-e-Islami a day earlier. He said major arteries including Numaish Chowrangi, Shahrah-e-Faisal, and other key roads were blocked, causing severe inconvenience to citizens.

“These roads are not your father’s property that you can block them and trouble the public,” he said. “It cannot be allowed that roads are shut down at will and people are made to suffer. If we take action, they will start crying. One person has already fled to Lahore, and the rest will follow.”

The mayor claimed that development work is underway across the city, but critics can only feel frustrated and do nothing else. “Karachi is not anyone’s personal city that I should resign. I am a proud worker of the Pakistan Peoples Party,” he said.

Murtaza Wahab further said that despite having authority, some people fail to resolve issues even after road-cutting approvals. “Instead of putting banners on rickshaws, we are delivering work on the ground,” he added.

Highlighting development in Khamiso Goth, he said that 190,000 square feet of paver blocks have been laid in the area, while a 6,000-foot sewerage line has been repaired and replaced with a budget of Rs200 million. He quoted a local resident as saying that such extensive development work had never been carried out in the area before.

The mayor reiterated that the Pakistan Peoples Party believes in solving public problems and, in line with Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s vision, will continue to spend resources on the welfare of the people.