KARACHI, March 19: The dispute between the Sindh government and the city government over the Karachi Building Control Authority deepened on Friday when the two sides gave contradictory versions of the outcome of a high-level meeting held to end the row under a Sindh High Court order.

The meeting, which was chaired by Sindh chief secretary Dr Mutawwakil Kazi, was attended by the additional chief secretary of the Sindh government's local government department, Mohammad Salim Khan; the secretary of the Sindh government's law department, Ghulam Nabi Shah; the Karachi Nazim, Naimatullah Khan; the district coordination officer of Karachi, Mir Hussain Ali; the chief controller of buildings, Brig A.S. Nasir; the additional secretary of the Sindh government's local government department, Ghulam Arif; the additional secretary of the Sindh government's planning and development department, Ghulam Sarwar Khehro; and the KBCA OSD, Rauf Akhtar Farooqui.

Karachi Nazim Naimatullah Khan later told Dawn that the KBCA had been made the 16th group of offices of the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) as envisaged under the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001.

"This means that the designation of the KBCA chief would be executive district officer and the powers of the KBCA chief executive would rest with the city Nazim," he explained.

The high-level committee was formed by the Sindh government to resolve the dispute between the CDGK and the KBCA, but all the last three meetings, scheduled for March 4, March 14 and March 18, were postponed.

The Sindh High Court on Thursday gave the provincial government a last chance to settle the controversy between the CDGK and the KBCA. It adjourned the hearing of the case till March 25.

A division bench of the SHC, comprising Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Zia Pervez, in its Thursday's order observed that "the hearing is adjourned to 25.3.2004 strictly by way of a last chance and the matter may proceed exparte if a party is not represented."

Meanwhile, the additional chief secretary of the Sindh government's local government department, Mohammad Saleem Khan, was tasked to work out a course of action after obtaining legal opinion from the Sindh law secretary, Ghulam Nabi Shah, adds APP.

He will submit the plan in the light of the decisions taken at # the meeting to the competent authority for approval. The meeting also discussed the Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001, Building Control Ordinance 1979 and other related rules and regulations.

He made it clear that the formulation of a land-use plan is essential for the improved performance of civic organizations. A followup responsibility for this was given to the additional chief secretary of the Sindh government's development department, Ghulam Sarwar Khehro, and the finance and environment departments of the CDGK were issued directives for liaison and coordination.

Notification KARACHI, March 19: The service contract of the chief controller of buildings, A.S. Nasir, has been extended for one year. According to KBCA sources, the chief secretary has issued a notification in this regard. -APP