KARACHI: Red tape hits animals in zoos, Safari Park
KARACHI, March 3: Animals in the Karachi Zoo, Landhi-Korangi Zoo and the Safari Park were not administered routine vaccination last year due to shortage of medicines and lengthy procurement procedures adopted by the city government.
Despite a passage of more than one-and-a-half years, the devolution system still creates confusion and uncertainty, especially in financial and administrative matters. There have been long delays in execution of routine works, as a result even animals in the zoos and the Safari Park have suffered a lot.
Because of the disorganized system of the city government, the concerned department has recently received five files, related to diets of animals worth about Rs6 million, which had been sent for approval about eight months ago.
While the two zoos and the Safari Park contribute more than Rs30 million to the city government each year, development work of less than Rs1 million has been carried out at these facilities with only four months remaining in the current fiscal year.
Similarly, no medicines for the animals could be purchased during the last fiscal year, as a result hardly any of the local and exotic animals was vaccinated. Besides, due to the repeated returning of files with various objections, all officers including the veterinary doctors have remained busy in handling the files.
Citing an example of a file relating to purchase of a still photography camera, worth a few thousand rupees, which was returned by the finance department asking its utility in the zoos or the Safari Park, an official of the community development department of the city government said that most of the officers were mainly busy in following files and writing clarifications.
This attitude has also hit the zoos’ developmental and promotional plans, most significant of whom are school education and adopt-a-cage programmes.
The in-charge of the zoos and the park, who is a district officer under the new system, has no financial powers while the executive district officers have financial powers up to Rs25,000 only.
But the finance department says that the city government is faced with acute financial crisis and all unnecessary expenses need to be controlled.
Besides, the devolution system has left the DO (zoos and Safari Park) without any administrative powers as opposed to the director of the defunct KMC who exercised administrative powers over the staff up to grade-5. Under the present system, all such files are sent to the EDO.
City Nazim Naimatullah Khan had directed the concerned department a few months ago to advertise nine projects at the two zoos and the Safari Park without calling public objections, but no progress has been made in this regard.
Six of the nine projects were in the Safari Park, two for Landhi- Korangi zoo while one related to the Karachi Zoo.
The two projects for Landhi-Korangi zoo included one tuck-shop and a gift shop, while a wheeler train was planned for the Karachi Zoo.
However, out of the nine revenue-generating projects for the Safari Park, only the chair-lift needed technical evaluation and expertise while the others — wheeler train, paddle boats and AC coaches — did not need any expert opinion for their final approval.
The chair-lift and wheeler train projects are also listed in the brochure printed by the investment promotion department of the city government, but under the lengthy system, it takes an average of about four months for any project file to return from the Nazim office.—PPI
