KARACHI, Dec 4: The City Council on Monday approved levying of additional taxes on advertisement and adopted new by-laws amid strong protests recorded by opposition members.

At the outset, some opposition members urged Naib City Nazim Ms Nasreen Jalil, who was presiding over the session to postpone the session in view of the heavy downpour across the city so that council members could visit their constituencies and assess the situation.

Their request was, however, turned down. In the meantime, treasury and opposition started exchanging hot words and trading allegations.

Leader of the opposition Saeed Ghani, and two members, Rafique Ahmed and Zahid Saeed, complained that the proposals submitted to the house committee on new advertisement rates and the amendments suggested by the opposition were not incorporated in the by-laws. In protest against the treasury benches’ attitude, they staged a token walkout.

Later, participating in the debate, they argued that the proposed additional taxes would burden the small advertisers heavily. They also feared that the new by-laws, which provided a reduction in the distance between one sign board and the other from 400 feet to 200 feet, might result in a mushroom growth of signboards along the footpaths across the city.

Rafique Ahmed of the Al-Khidmat group described the additional taxes on advertisements as injustice with citizens of Karachi. He also protested against the outright rejection of the proposals put forward by the Al-Khidmat and Awam Dost groups.

Saeed Ghani of the Awam Dost group condemned the by-law providing for a reduction in distances between signboards, saying this would turn the city into a jungle of advertising signboards.

Members of the house committee, including Masood Mehmood and Abdul Jalil, rejected all allegations levelled by the opposition members with regard to their proposals and amendments. They said that the committee had completed its work in a record time, and claimed that it had always been welcoming opposition’s proposals and accommodating the positive ones.

The council will now meet on December 9.