Nazim Karachi Mustafa Kamal gave a detail interview to daily Ummat. Point of interest was different issues related to city and development work and its status. Read here

I was thinking what would become of Karachi and the green CNG rickshaws, (legacy of debunked General & President Musharraf) if Altaf Hussain, Pir of London, Imam of Mohajirs of Karachi, were to suddenly transform from being a leader of MQM into an erstwhile rickshawala.

First, he won’t get any license. PPP wants all Sindhis, mostly un-educated and belonging to interior, to do everything. From sweepers to customs officers at port, to PIA’s various GMs, and the President of the god-damn country.

If in case he gets the license, he will do lot of things.

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Have you wondered why most of the under-belly of Baloch colony flyover is blocked for traffic. Well, it is because of the creeping encroachment out there. And it gets really dirty when it rains hard as rain water gets blocked. It is really unfortunate that such a prime place is being encroached upon right under the nose of the administration and nobody seems to care. Mr. Mustafa Kamal, the mayor of Karachi, who jumps around building roads and bridges and parks, is requested to wrest this land from land mafia before it is too late.

Midnight tonight marks the start of the celebrations for the 61st Independence Day for Pakistan. As customary to our celebrations the city resonates with fireworks, erratic gunfire, silencer-less bikes, screeching tires and blaring music quite literally people need an excuse to have a good time. With the gloomy political situation, an economic disaster and crushing security issues people still continue to find an opportunity to let themselves loose, as they say life must go on similarly in Karachi life does go on.

When on a casual drive around town tonight, everything else was exactly the same EXCEPT for one minor change. There were literally NO MQM flags dominating the scene, in contrast to yesteryears where it was customary to see the Pakistani flag being dwarfed in size & number replaced with the high flying MQM - Red, Green and White it was for tonight, not the case and we were [I was for sure] replaced with the pride of seeing one nation standing united under one flag.

Evoking patriotism is not difficult but it takes time for the patriotic spirit to sink into the hearts of the people, and if more such patriotic activities are conducted on a regular basis we will most definitely rise and stand proud. It requires the leadership to Think & Preach Pakistan and the people will definitely follow suit.

Its unfortunate that in Karachi for the past 20 odd years MQM has been in search for creating a separate identity [it still is] but one oft has to question if that goal supersedes the integrity and existence of Pakistan [I hope not]. The latest initiative by the ever energetic Mustafa Kamal to evoke patriotism by launching I Own Karachi campaign must be seen as a positive step and I truly believe if more such Pakistan specific events are held on a regular basis then we are definitely in for a positive change.

Knock on Wood, Pakistan Zindabad

It was a morning set to impress. The a hall of a hotel in Karachi was buzzing with activity aw we were all ready for another milestone to be laid in the history achievements in the It industry of Pakistan.  

The event was the launch of CIO Pakistan Magazine, CIO is the world’s largest business technology leadership magazine, printed in over 35 countries around the world and will now be printing locally to help highlight and support our local technology Industry. Besides the launch the event also included CIO “Technology Pioneer Awards” the recognize the excellence and the achievements of the best amongst the leaders of the local technology and telecommunication industry.

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Since a few days I have been hearing about the recent deployment of CCTV cameras throughout the city by the city mayor Mustafa Kamal. The deployment of CCTV cameras at select traffic corridors of Karachi (and soon throughout the city) is to serve multiple purposes ranging from traffic monitoring to policing the area while it may also help catch any corrupt officials who may want siphon off innocent citizens. The whole project took only 6 months to complete and hopefully if used consistently will definitely help improve the security situation in Karachi.

The system is also said to have face recognition software, RFID software, and is connected to the NADRA database. What caught my attention was this booth recently (?) erected in front of Metropole boating a banner afixed to the top, which on afterthought might not be linked together, it generally read “Future Eye Inc. You are being watched CCTV & Network …..” I honestly have no idea what this booth has to do with CCTV deployment (?), is it to create awareness or does this booth have another purpose.

CNN:Airspan Networks a leading provider of WiMAX broadband wireless access networks, announced that City District Government Karachi (CDGK) in Pakistan has successfully deployed Airspan’s 4.9 GHz WiMAX solutions for its IP Closed Circuit Television Video surveillance project in Karachi. CDGK is committed to video surveillance of all major city roads. Airspan is partnering with GCS a U.S. based telecommunications integrator that provides wireless video solutions in Pakistan

This story that i received in numerous emails came in THE NEWS two weeks back & its a must read for you. I share it here with our readers. [Credits: Mustafa Jamal]

“ At 5.15 p.m. June 4, I stopped at Plaza, in front of the Polani Motors on Karachi’s busiest thoroughfare, the M.A. Jinnah Road, to have my car’s electric window repaired. Soon, I was mobbed by some seven to eight people, who insisted that I get some door rubbers installed. I refused but they started the work nevertheless.

Quickly, I found myself trapped, with these people doing all sorts of work on the car, not listening to my command, directions and pleadings. These people had me so placed that I could not run, scream or phone anybody, even though I was on the busiest road of Karachi. By all means, I was held hostage by them.

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The purpose of city nazim Mustafa Kamal’s on-going trip to the United States has been the subject of much discussion lately. All three major English dailies, Dawn, The News and Daily Times have carried stories on it recently.

On Monday, Daily Times reported he was getting “special treatment” from the State Department because they viewed him as a potential future leader of the country. The report in Monday’s The News was also on similar lines, it quoted CNN’s State Department Correspondent Zain Virje as saying that the mayor of Karachi was a “guest with a mission”. Daily Times also published the full transcript of the interview Kamal gave to Virje, and even though Kamal played down speculation about the purpose of his visit, telling Dawn’s Anwer Iqbal that he had come to the United States to urge American businessmen to invest in his city, speculation is still rife. Read more

Despite repeated rhetoric by the authorities (March 31, 2007: No leniency in plastic bag ban says Sindh Minister for Environment and Alternative Energy, Dr Saghir Ahmed, April 30, 2007: Drive against plastic bags intensified, city district government claims, March 17, 2007:Plastic bag transportation in and out of the city to be checked says city nazim Mustafa Kamal), it has become increasingly apparent that the environment is the last thing on their agenda. Since the ban against plastic bags below the 30 micron weight limit was put into place last year, both the local city district and provincial governments have come out several times with tall claims about strict enforcement of the ban. Yet we see in practice that their claims couldn’t be further from the truth. Read more