KARACHI: Ministers and MPAs block work of city govt: Nazim
KARACHI, June 14: Karachi’s Nazim has said that despite undue interference and pressure from the provincial government — which is hindering the development projects of the city — he will not resign. He had decided to stay firm in his commitment to make Karachi “a welfare city”.
Addressing a press conference — organized in the committee room of the Civic Centre on Saturday — Naimatullah Khan spoke at length about the development projects that were initiated by the City Government but which after the October elections, and subsequent interference from the provincial government, had faced considerable problems and delays.
He appreciated the cooperation extended by the governor of Sindh, chief minister and chief secretary to him but added that despite their assurances some provincial ministers continued to disrupt the functioning of the City Government.
In addition, the Sindh government was blocking the devolution of several departments to the District Government level. Examples included the KBCA, KWSB, Labour Department and the Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority.
The nazim of Karachi informed all those present that while the KDA Act had been repealed, making it a part of the City Government, the same had not been done with regard to the KWSB and KBCA.
Similarly, some departments had only been partially devolved. For instance some staff of the Bureau of Supplies were being offered to the City Government, but its assets had been handed over to some departments of the provincial government.
Mr Khan commented that the transfer of its officers and the issuance of orders to its officers directly by the provincial ministers represented the worst problem being faced by the City Government today.
He told the journalists that Octroi grant was being slashed while an amount of Rs1 billion, on account of property tax, had also been withheld. He said this amount was supposed to go to the towns.
This was affecting the development process, he said, and under such conditions it was difficult for the City Government to come up to the expectations of the people.
Mr Khan deplored the transfer of the EDOs of finance and revenue just a few weeks before the announcement of the budget, and referred to a regulation which holds that, ordinarily, no officer of the District Government could be transferred within three years.
He stated that more development projects had been completed in the past two years by the City Government than had been finished during more than two decades. Besides initiating new uplift works, the City Government had taken up several abandoned projects while the pace of all the ongoing projects was being monitored constantly to ensure their timely completion.
In addition to taking up uplift projects in the urban areas of the city, various abandoned projects in the rural areas had been brought back on track. Examples included the projects involving the construction of Mubarak Dam and also of schools, colleges and technical colleges in Malir and Gadap areas.
“Among the main problems of Karachi are transport and unplanned development of the city, that leads to numerous problems like lack of housing space, encroachment and shortage of utilities like water, electricity, besides sanitation problems,” he asserted.
“My vision for Karachi is for the year 2025,” Mr Khan announced, adding that his successors would benefit from his policies. He told the newspersons about the various mega-projects of Karachi that had been initiated during the past few months, including the construction of three flyovers at Shah Faisal Colony, FTC and Sharea Quaideen. The Lyari Expressway, Northern By-pass and K-III projects were also discussed.
To contain the problem of water shortage, he said, many projects had been initiated. One such programme involved the reduction in the quantity of water that was lost, whose PC-I of Rs1.2 billion had been approved by the federal government.
An agreement with an Austrian firm had been finalised to treat sewage water on BOT basis for the Gutter Baghicha Treatment Plant. Treated water would be supplied for industrial and plantation use, he said. A similar agreement was being sought for three other treatment plants of the City Government.
The City Government had invited expressions of interest for establishing an integrated desalination plant on BOT basis, where the garbage generated in Karachi would be used as energy. This project would also help in easing the solid waste disposal problem of Karachi.
About education, Mr Khan said when he became Nazim there were 52 colleges in Karachi. The number of colleges today stood at 100. — PPI/APP
