KARACHI: Kamal, Niamat hold each other responsible: Rs7bn reduction in Karachi package
KARACHI, Nov 27: City Nazim Mustafa Kamal and former city nazim Niamatullah Khan held each other responsible for reduction in funds for Tameer-i-Karachi Programme from Rs29 billion to Rs22 billion.
Earlier, Mustafa Kamal revealed on Saturday that some stakeholders had backed off from the plan with their funds, which resulted in reduction of President Musharraf’s Package for Karachi.
Attributing the reduction to incompetence of former city government, Mr Kamal said that the value of package shrank before he took over as city nazim. He said some parties had refused to fund the project in very first meeting. The project envisaged various flyovers, roads and other development projects for metropolis.
Major financiers of TKP included Karachi Port Trust, Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan International Airlines, Bin Qasim Port, Civil Aviation Authority and Export Promotion Bureau.
However, Niamatullah Khan told PPI that all concerned parties were present when he gave briefing to General Pervez Musharraf on the project. As such, he added, if anyone moved back ‘now’ it was in complete contradiction to the president’s order.
During his visit to New Karachi Town on Saturday night, Mustafa Kamal said that the garbage removal network would soon be privatized, which would not only improve the sanitary situation, but also provide revenues to the city government.
Addressing the town nazim, union council nazims and councillors, he asked New Karachi Town Municipal Administration to appoint 10 sanitation workers in each union council of the town on contractual basis to overcome the shortage of sanitary staff.
He said that the town administration must pay attention towards sanitation problems of the town.
Mustafa Kamal reiterated his commitment that the city government would provide all possible assistance to administration of every town to improve the sanitary conditions.
He directed the town officials to present him an estimate within two days about the requirements for launching cleanliness campaign in the town.
He directed the union council nazims to point out the water supply and sewerage problems of their respective towns and directed KWSB officials to solve them. He said that Rs50 million had been allocated for upgradation of water supply and sewerage network of every town. He said that KWSB had been merged with the district government at town level and the concerned KWSB Superintendent Engineer would work under the town nazim.
Among others, Town Nazim Hanif Soorti, EDO (Works and Services) Syed Sarfraz and TMO Syed Akhtar were present.—APP/PPI
