KARACHI, May 10: Advisor to Sindh chief minister on local government, Wasim Akhtar, said here on Tuesday that although the local government department had devolved all departments and group of offices to the district governments, the city district government has not yet devolved the functions of town municipal administrations to respective TMAs.
Speaking at a workshop held here to review the proposed delegation plan, he said it was amazing to note that a number of functions, such as parks, street-lights, slaughter-houses and encroachments are to be dealt with exclusively by TMAs, yet they have not yet been devolved by the CDGK.
Categorically stating that the provincial local government department never tried to create any hindrance in the smooth functioning of the city government, he said as a matter of fact, he always worked within the provincial framework and provisions of SLGO-2001.
“In fact, I have always been trying to facilitate the local government in their development activities, providing funds and resolving the allied issues,” he said, adding a number of irregularities have been committed by different nazims during their four-year tenure of local governments.
Elaborating, he said when gross violation of rules was committed by any Nazim, the local government department took cognizance of such violations and asked the concerned nazim to submit reply merely with the intention of making the law clear and keep the record straight but with a view to promoting the new local government system, no action was ever taken.
In this regard, he pointed out that although there is no provision of having any coordinator under the SLGO, the city Nazim, had 18 coordinators who were provided with vehicles, petrol, offices and staff and thus the magnitude of illegal expenditures which was incurred on the coordinators during last four years can be calculated and recovered from the Nazim.
Mr Wasim said whenever the local government commission which is a constitutional body under the SLGO called the city Nazim upon receiving complaints and on several issues, the latter refused to attend in violation of rules but no action was taken.
