Rizwan Niazi, Additional General Secretary of PTI Sindh and head of the party’s Management Cell (PMC) in the province, has strongly criticized the Sindh government for planning to impose an additional “garbage tax” on Karachi’s residents.
He accused the government of exploiting the public under the guise of taxes and said citizens are already frustrated with the corrupt and imposed rulers.
In his statement, Niazi highlighted that Karachi’s citizens are deprived of their basic rights, as they have to pay privately to get garbage collected from their neighborhoods and even hire private services to clean sewer lines. He also pointed out the deteriorating condition of public parks, stating that massive budgets allocated for park maintenance are being embezzled.
Niazi revealed that the Sindh government is preparing to collect an unfair garbage tax from Karachi’s residents, amounting to Rs. 10 billion annually, despite failing to fulfill its existing responsibilities. He emphasized that it is the duty of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to collect garbage, which has not been properly done for a long time, leaving piles of waste in the streets, contributing to the spread of diseases.
He further warned that due to the lack of cleanliness, diseases such as Chikungunya have become widespread in Karachi, while the absence of fumigation efforts has led to an increase in Dengue and Malaria cases.
Niazi urged the government to stop imposing illegal taxes on the public and instead focus on providing essential services, including setting up special medical units to combat the rising health crises in the city.