KARACHI: Town Nazims asked to identify uplift plans
KARACHI, Jan 19: The Sindh local government department has asked the town Nazims to plan and identify areas of improvement in their towns under the government’s Programme for Economic Revival of Karachi.
Speaking to town Nazims, and municipal officers of all the 18 towns of Karachi at a meeting called to discuss the implementation of property tax, entertainment duty, hoardings, out-door advertisements and removal of encroachments, Sindh minister for local government Dewan Mohammad Yousaf Farooqui said that one of major problems faced by Karachi was lack of any centralised master plan and it was for the first time in five decades of independence that emphasis had been laid for formation of a spatial plan for the city.
The new master planning department of the city government would have very important functions with its officials at town level, he said and added that it was the responsibility of town Nazims to identify improvement plans and design long-term development strategy for their respective towns.
He emphasised for face-lifting of all areas in Karachi and cited examples of other developing countries which are generating good amount by beautifying and properly managing local areas.
The meeting was informed that huge revenues could be generated from a number of sectors previously ignored which include outdoor advertising, development of beaches and proper land management which could only be tapped by developing cooperation among all concerned, including town administration, the city government and even the stakeholders.
He said new bye-laws regarding hoardings had been finalised which would be given to every town and said it was the responsibility of Nazims to get them properly implemented.
Vice Chairman of PERK Shahid Feroze spoke about the projects conceived under the Programme for Economic Revival of Karachi.
He said during their working, PERK had identified that main problems in Karachi were water and sewerage problem, solid waste management, transport, lack of entertainment facilities and need for information technology development.
He informed the Nazims about various problems and field of development in a number of areas of the city and assured them that their proposals for community development would be sponsored.
He said that a number of prominent businessmen and architects have approached the PERK with a commitment to extend services for Karachi without any charges. However, town administrations need to manage themselves on modern lines.
Shahid Feroze spoke about certain mega-projects for Karachi, including City Garden at old sabzimandi, improvement of Jheel park, shifting of Karachi jail, development of Boating Basin Park and uplift of Nursery residential-cum-commercial area and added that offers were on the cards for sponsoring all these projects which were being reviewed.
Secretary of Local Government Qamaruz Zaman informed the Nazims that Rs350 million had already been released for Karachi and requested the Town Nazims to present development schemes ranging from Rs50,000 to Rs10 million in their towns.
DG Katchi Abadis Tasneem Siddiqui informed the meeting that though about 3,000 buses ply inter-city routes in Karachi, it was the only city in Pakistan which had no inter-city terminus. Issues like this, when resolved, would ultimately improve the traffic problem in the city, he added.
Various problems faced by Town Nazims were also discussed, mainly pertaining to distribution of assets among different towns. Dewan Yousaf Farooqui directed the local government department to resolve them at the earliest.
The meeting was attended by City Nazim Naimatullah Khan, Brig Ayaz of Army Supporting Team for City Government, EDO Revenue, EDO Finance and other senior officials.—APP
