Westerners can’t compete with Bahria Town residents in lifestyle: Malik Riaz
KARACHI:
Founder and Chairman Bahria Town Malik Riaz says it is his passion and
desire to develop Pakistan on a par with the US, Dubai and London.
He
expressed these views in an exclusive talk with Geo here on
Friday.Referring to the Clifton Flyover and Underpasses inaugurated on
Friday, when the anchor asked why the private sector launched such
projects which were deemed to be launched by the governments, he said:
“Our people should have better education, and heath facilities but we
are not working in any sector.
Seeing cleanliness of this
underpass, the rest of Karachi may be cleaned. Bahria Town will pay its
bills and we have linked it with our ‘Icon’. The Sindh government has
nothing to pay for cleaning, or electricity.”
He said the
project should have been completed in five months but it took one full
year. “We spent seven months on dealing with the court cases and stay
orders. I’m thankful to the court that allowed us to start work.”Asked
what the Bahria Town would do to deal with problems like the
accumulation of rainwater in the underpasses, he said if technical
procedures are followed properly, water does not gather in any underpass
of the world.
“God willing, not a drop of water would
gather here.” He said the Bahria Town administration will ensure
maintenance of latest lights throughout their lives. “Bahria Town will
do it; we’ll pay all the expenditure including electricity bills.
Asked
how the Bahria Town administration will deal with the problem of
wall-chalking, Malik Riaz said wall-chalking could not be done on the
tiles which they had used in the underpass. When asked how much the
Metro Bus, which will run from Bahria Town to Tower, will facilitate the
residents of Bahria Town, he said they were not only catering to the
Bahria Town, but also to the entire Karachi.
“About
370,000 people will travel on the Metro Bus daily. We have signed an MoU
with Daewoo in this regard. We want to start this project tomorrow if
hurdles are removed in our way. Once Sindh government procedures are
complete and tenders are announced, other people should also come so
that there is no stay order or other problem. Bahria Town is investing
money at a distance of 45km. We have not got a go-ahead so far. We,
however, have got proposal, design, feasibility and environmental
approval, thank God.”
The Bahria Town chief guaranteed
that if hurdles were removed tomorrow, they will start work day after
tomorrow.“You will be traveling in Metro Bus on the 10th or 11th month.”
Talking about the bus route and the fare, he said the service would
cover the whole of Karachi.
“Its first phase is 45KM and
second 28 KM. Its subsidized fare will be Rs20. It will follow the
pattern of Lahore and Islamabad. I appreciate Mian Shahbaz Sharif for
doing a good job there. Seeing him, we have started work here.”
Asked
if he wanted the people of Pakistan to have the same lifestyle enjoyed
by the westerners, Malik Riaz said Bahria Town had provided a lifestyle
far better than the one being enjoyed by the westerners.
“The
cine club, parks, mosques that Bahria Town has built have no precedent
the world over. I throw you a challenge that we can be competed anywhere
in the world.”When the anchor asked if he was going to build the third
biggest mosque of the world after Harmain Sharifain, Mr. Malik said:
“You cannot compete with that. We say our mosque can house 800,000
worshipers. Disney Park is being built at a cost of Rs6 billion. Night
Safari Singapore is under construction. Clubs, cinema, schools and
hospitals are being built in Bahria Town. The residents of Bahria Town
do not go outside.”
Mr. Malik said he was not afraid of
problems and hurdles in his projects. “Problems are profit and God helps
us.”The Bahria Town chief said he had read somewhere that all heroes
had to face problems. “You want to do something but others want to stop
you. They want to take Pakistan back to Stone Age. We can develop and be
prosperous if the judiciary, the army, politicians and bureaucrats
united on one platform. We have to bring our money to Pakistan to run
it. The biggest problem the country has been facing availability of
clean drinking water. Diseases like cancer and hepatitis are spreading.
All our resources are in the service of the nation. Millions of people
are treated in our hospitals. You will get double the amount you spent
on welfare.”
Fasahat Mohiuddin adds from Karachi: Bahria Town Flyover and underpass were inaugurated here on Friday costing Rs1.8 billion.
Bahria
Town chairman Malik Riaz said in two years he could put Pakistan ahead
of the US and Europe if the army, bureaucrats, political leader, judges
and all stakeholders unite on single platform.
The oldest
worker of Bahria Town, Ghulam Jillani, 70, a carpenter, cut the ribbon
along with Malik Riaz on the Labour Day. Riaz said Jillani’s family was
going on Umrah financed by the Bahria Town. Malik said new projects
would be inaugurated by their workers after their completion.
Zain
Malik, Vice Chief Executive of Bahria Town, and KMC Administrator Saqib
Ahmed Soomro were also present on the occasion.“This is a gift to the
KMC and Karachi. I am thankful to the KMC, KE and SSGC for providing
services for this project free of cost.”
The cost of the
project is Rs1.8 billion and its name is Bahria Town Flyover and
Underpasses. It comprises three underpasses and two underground
pedestrian passes.
Riaz said all the credit for completion
of this project goes to Mustafa Kamal, former city Nazim Karachi. Malik
said he had first time visited this place to cut the tape and right
from designing and completion of this project credit went to Mustafa
Kamal. He said Mustafa Kamal had worked day and night for the completion
of this project.
Riaz said Mustafa Kamal loved Karachi
and Pakistan. He said Pakistan was right now the most underdeveloped
country in the world and it could develop if local investors invest
their money instead of making investments abroad.
Riaz
said foreign investors asked them if local investors were not investing
in Pakistan then why they should do it.Malik urged judges not to give
stay orders in development projects. “I also urge judges that before
giving stay orders, they should also hear the other party.”
He
said Bus Rapid Transit System will be started and this had been
extended to the DHA. Replying to a question that why public sector
projects were not completed in which political leaders were involved,
Malik Riaz said they were all corrupt.“If a desert like Dubai could get
so much development and progress, why not Karachi?”
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