25 October 2004	Monday	10 Ramazan 1425

KARACHI, Oct 24: The City Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, on Sunday vowed to ensure equal supply of water to all city areas. Addressing a camp for distribution of application forms for regularization of kutchi abadis, held at Usman Ghani and Umar Farooq Colonies, North Nazimabad Town, he said that a master plan had been prepared to see that all areas received adequate water supply.

He said that for the purpose, Rs900 million would be spent on laying and desilting of water pipelines, and repairing the sewerage disposal system.

He, later, distributed forms among people and advised them to fill the forms and submit the same with their union councillors for regularization.

LG SYSTEM: The present local government system introduced three years back is the "best", although power has not yet been fully transferred at the grassroots level as envisaged, observed the Nazim of Karachi, Naimatullah Khan.

The local government system, he said, had helped in solving the problems of people in the cosmopolitan city of Karachi, which provided 70 per cent in revenue to the federal government every year. "I hope power is transferred gradually at the grassroots level."

"I have succeeded to a large extent in solving the problems of Karachiites, particularly in providing infrastructure, which had been neglected in the past. I have a good working relationship with the Sindh government, except for the interference of some advisers of provincial ministers," he told a radio news conference on Sunday.

As against the annual budget of Rs5-6 billion for Karachi in 2001, Naimat said that he presented a record enhanced budget of Rs20.5 billion in 2002, Rs27 billion in 2003 and Rs32 billion in 2004. "All three budgets I presented were without new taxes," he said.

He said that the additional income generated by the city government in the last three years was being spent on development projects, particularly infrastructure in Karachi, not witnessed during the last 55 years.

He spoke of the Mass Transit Project in Karachi to be started by a Chinese company with investment of $600 million, and said it would be finalized shortly during a meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. The Chinese company would make 90 per cent investment in the project while the city government 10 per cent.

The city nazim said that an MoU had also been signed with an American company for setting up a water desalination plant in the city with a capacity of 50 million gallons daily.

Speaking about the Rs29 billion Tameer-e-Karachi programme, he said the city and Sindh governments had to provide Rs6 billion each, the federal government Rs5 billion, and Rs12 billion were to be provided by all stakeholders.- APP/PPI