HYDERABAD: Moves to resolve issues between districts
By M. H. Khan
HYDERABAD, Feb 13: The Sindh chief secretary will chair a meeting of officials of Dadu and Jamshoro district governments in his office on Thursday to resolve issues between the two districts.
He decided to mediate between the two districts after the Dadu district government did not respond to requests of the Jamshoro district government regarding distribution of assets, funds, properties and liabilities.
The meeting was to be held on Feb 10 but it was postponed for some reasons.
The new district has not even been provided trained staff for different groups of offices of the district government.
The issues which have been affecting working of the new district for one year are related to availability of details and distribution of assets, funds, liabilities, staff, vehicles and properties. Documents regarding these mattes are not being shared or handed over to the Jamshoro district government by the Dadu district despite repeated requests by the former.
No record of funds, liabilities, staff, assets and properties is available with the Jamshoro district.
Funds required by Jamshoro include school management committees’ funds, octroi and zila tax from July 2004 to November 2005 and funds of the National Programme for Improvement of Watercourses.
Details of accounts, balance in tax collections, arms licenses, fees, coal mines fees, Zakat and various projects being executed at the Manchhar Lake are also needed by the Jamshoro district.
The lack of funds has also affected execution of development schemes.
It is learnt that the district officer, education works, has floated tenders for development schemes of the Dadu district which include half a dozen schemes which are to be executed in the Jamshoro area at a cost of Rs14.5 million approximately.
All district governments have passed their budgets for 2005-6 but the Jamshoro district government is now preparing its budget as it lacked details of funds and savings of the last fiscal year.
POLIO: Sindh health services director-general Dr Hadi Bux Jatoi has said Sindh will be made polio free soon as there are only four polio cases in the province.
Briefing journalists at his office on Monday, he said there were 10 polio cases in Punjab, eight in Balochistan and five in the NWFP.
He said there were 28 cases in 2004 and 65 cases in 2000 in Sindh.
Referring to the sealing of a private hospital in Sukkur, he said it had been sealed under a proper procedure in presence of a judicial magistrate and following directives by the Sindh chief minister.
He said findings of an inquiry committee, headed by deputy director, curative, Dr Roshan Ali, had revealed that the hospital owner was an unqualified person.
He said that after sealing the hospital, its patients were shifted to the Sukkur Civil Hospital. He said that three children had been kept in the hospital and its laboratory had not been sealed. He said one of the children had died later on. He said the hospital record had also been seized.
The official rejected a claim of the hospital owner that it was political victimization and said the chief minister had been informed about it.
