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| June 4, 2002 | Tuesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 22,1423 |
Councillors want more powers and funds
SWABI, June 3: The NWFP Minister for Local Government Athar Minnallah said on Monday that some amendments to the local government ordinance will be made.
He was addressing the Councillors’ Convention at Tarbela Recreation Centre on Monday, where councillors demanded that their powers as well as financial position be strengthened.
The convention was marred by pandemonium and accusations and counter-accusations by union council Nazims and councillors. At least on two occasions, the minister had to make appeal for calm.
The minister said under the newly introduced local bodies system, the role of the each union council is very dominant. If any Nazim initiated development project without the consent of his respective councillors, the bill of such project will not be passed and the Nazim of the respective union council will face the penalty.
If a linkage road among the four or five union councils was announced to be constructed but any one of these UCs was kept in the dark about the project, its financial bills will also not be passed, he said.
In such a situation, there was a need for consensus, cooperation and coordination. If any member or members brushed aside these principles, they would in effect be enemy of the new system. By so doing, they would not only puncture the system but also harm the country, he added.
Replying to the councillors’ demands, he said because of the feeble financial position of the country, it was not possible to allocate funds for their honorarium. A sum of Rs200 million would be required for the NWFP alone, if the government did so.
The irony was that everybody had made vigorous efforts to get his own control over the funds of the development projects which resulted in rivalry among the UC Nazims and councillors, he said.
There were also some people who had given much more importance to their own financial interest over that of state, he said, adding that these tactics and greed for wealth had pushed Pakistan into a $40 billion debt trap.
The councillors, he said, have to play a key role in the success of the system. They were the backbone of the system, but if they failed to perform their duties, they would be deemed responsible for its failure.
He said changes will be introduced in the system in order to make it flawless.
If anyone was interested in initiating an inquiry against the UC Nazim or any other member, he would have to submit an application before the local government commission. Its members will conduct the inquiry and the report will be made public, he said.
The district councillors Nishat Begum, Nazia Begum, Perveen Begum and Nasrut, representing the women, queried what they could do with their 33 per cent representation when their financial position was so fragile.
They demanded equal allocation of funds, change in the local government ordinance, share of lady councillors in Khushal Pakistan Programme, facilities like UC Nazims’ representation in various committees and training for the budgetary planning.
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