ISLAMABAD: The government cannot afford the Rs20 million needed to bring relief to the residents of the federal capital, who have been suffering through a water crisis since the beginning of the summer, Asad Umar, the PTI MNA from Islamabad, said on Tuesday.

Opening his budget speech in the National Assembly, Mr Umar said: “I was listening to Dar Sb’s speech the other day where he was praising the government’s performance. For a while, even I was confused and thought we were actually doing well economically.”

“The next day, I had occasion to call up the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to inquire about the issue of the water shortage in Islamabad, which we had also protested. Residents are up in arms because the [water-pumping] motors have broken down and, with Ramazan upon us, even water tankers can’t meet their needs.”

“But the government doesn’t even have the Rs20 million needed to repair those motors,” he lamented. However, he pointed out, albeit sarcastically, that this was not because “Ishaq Dar is a heartless man”, rather, it proved that the budget speech was “not an accurate reflection of reality”.