KARACHI — Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has criticised the federal government for failing to honour its pledge of allocating Rs100 billion for Karachi, saying that the city despite powering nearly 70% of Pakistan’s economy has been offered little more than a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project as consolation.
Speaking to members of the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) at the organisation’s headquarters on Saturday, Shah assured developers that major improvements to the city’s infrastructure were on the horizon. He encouraged ABAD to submit a proposal for low-cost housing schemes, promising the provincial government’s full support.
The minister said the 27th Constitutional Amendment had been crafted with Karachi’s residents in mind. However, he dismissed the idea of forming new provinces as “highly impractical,” noting that Sindh was already struggling to manage the financial burden of its existing administrative structure. In the current circumstances, he added, establishing new assemblies, courts or governance systems was simply not feasible.
According to an ABAD press statement, Shah claimed that Sindh’s local government system was more effective than those in other provinces. He acknowledged ongoing issues in the construction sector and said that all pending approvals would be cleared without delay to ensure timely delivery of affordable housing.
He admitted that departments such as the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) were in need of significant reforms. Officers accused of unfairly harassing builders had already been removed from their posts, he said. While stressing the need to curb illegal construction, Shah insisted that legitimate projects must not be obstructed.
“We do not want our builders to move abroad,” he said, adding that the government—working alongside the private sector would act to boost employment, expand housing availability and support the construction economy.
Earlier, ABAD Chairman Muhammad Hassan Bakshi revealed that Saudi Arabia had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ABAD to invest $500 million in Karachi’s construction sector. He urged authorities to digitise land records and streamline the project approval process.
Bakshi warned that bureaucratic hurdles in Karachi had reached an alarming level, pushing the construction industry into deep crisis. Routine matters such as plot transfers and legal clarifications now faced chronic delays, he said.
He added that even after municipal bodies issued official notifications, implementation often failed to follow, leaving builders unable to move forward.
“ABAD members are losing confidence in Karachi. Many have already shifted their investments to Dubai and Lahore,” Bakshi cautioned.
