KARACHI, June 30: The Sindh government has dissolved all zila, town, tehsil and union councils in all districts of Sindh with immediate effect, and has declared that all nazims, naib nazims and members of the councils have ceased to hold their respective offices. In this connection, a notification was issued by the additional chief secretary, local government department, on Thursday which stated that with the announcement of the election schedule for local government as notified by the chief election commissioner, the councils stood dissolved and their members ceased to hold their respective offices by virtue of sub-section 179 (A) of the Sindh Local Government Ordinance-2001.
Earlier, the Sindh government directed all local bodies in the province not to prepare their annual budgets for 2005-06 and declared those already passed ‘invalidated’.
The relevant notification, dated June 27, was circulated by the provincial finance department among all DCOs, EDOs (F&P) and nazims of districts, towns and union councils in Sindh informing them that such budgets might not be executed in the new fiscal.
Through the notification, the local bodies had been asked not to auction leases till the assumption of office by new local governments.
However, where incumbent local governments have already completed the auction of leases for the fiscal 2005-06, and the lease money is more than 10 per cent of the auction price of the current fiscal, such leases would be regarded as valid, subject to the completion of all modalities.
The notification also directs that the local governments may also not incur any expenditures from their development budgets during the next financial year, except for the ongoing schemes, provided these have been approved and funded as ongoing schemes.
Budgets of a number of local bodies in Sindh have already been approved.
In Karachi also, the City Council has approved the city district government’s budget while many of the 18 towns, including Lyari, Gulshan, Saddar and Gadap, have got their budgets approved from their respective councils.
