KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Chief Monem Zafar has inaugurated two restored parks in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, fulfilling pledges made to residents of the area. In Union Council (UC) 6, Metroville III, a Hazrat Talha bin Ubaidullah (RA) Park was inaugurated on a site that had long served as a garbage dumpsite. In UC 4, Block 6, a Hazrat Abdul Rahman bin Auf (RA) Park was reclaimed from the land mafia, rebuilt, and reopened to the public after lying in ruins for nearly 29 years. Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Zafar said the parks’ restoration was a fulfilled promise, but their upkeep remained a shared community responsibility. He noted that development in Karachi had stalled for years but was now progressing across the megacity’s nine JI-governed towns. Over the past two and a half years, 234 parks have been restored citywide, several featuring open-air gyms, with floodlights recently installed in Incholi. He said that Sui Gas authorities had begun replacing 40-year-old pipelines — causing temporary disruption but promising long-term improvement — and that Hyderi Market had been rebuilt as a model commercial space. Youth centres offering educational and extracurricular activities are also being established across the city. Despite receiving no additional development funds and facing a deficit of nearly Rs70 million, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town has continued public welfare work, with most available funds consumed by employee salaries under the OZT head. Town Chairman Dr Fawad Ahmed said public scepticism had surrounded the projects, but the administration delivered. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026