KARACHI, May 7: Hundreds of employees of the defunct Karachi Development Authority, protesting against non-payment of salaries for over two months, attacked the KDA offices and smashed window panes and furniture on Tuesday afternoon.
The employees belonged to the Design Bureau, Master Plan, Mass transit and Traffic Engineering Bureau departments of the defunct KDA.
The demonstrators gathered at the Civic Centre in the morning and waited for their salaries which were not paid. In the afternoon they took out a procession, stormed the KDA head office and chanted slogans marching in the Civic Centre building.
Though these departments are part of the KDA, the salaries of their employees are paid by the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA). Earlier, the salaries were paid regularly, but since the KBCA itself is facing financial difficulties at present and sometimes not pays the salaries of its employees on time, the KBCA is reluctant to pay the salary of these employees.
The KBCA’s chief controller had written a letter to the KDA’s finance director a few days ago telling him that since these employee were working with the KDA departments and were not in the budget of the KBCA, now the KBCA would not be able to pay their salaries, and that the KDA should pay the salaries.
The protesters chanted slogans against the KBCA chief and alleged he was spending millions of rupees on his treatment, but was not paying salaries to more than 400 employees who had been getting their salaries from the KBCA for the past many years.
The employees said due to non-payment of salaries they were facing difficulties. One of the employees, who could no longer sustain the mental and economic stress due to non-payment of salary for more than two months, died of shock on Monday, in the KDA office.
The protesters said if salary was not paid immediately, the workers might be compelled to take extreme step.
