KARACHI: Provincial Minister for Information and Local Government Sharjeel Inam Memon on Wednesday disclosed that services of 800 ‘ghost’ employees of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation had been terminated while lists of non-performing employees in other departments were also being prepared.

The minister disclosed this while addressing a press conference here on Wednesday after presiding over a meeting in his office.

He said the campaign to eliminate ghost employees from the local bodies department had been initiated and in this connection the Karachi administrator on Wednesday provided him a list of 800 temporary employees who were getting salary without performing their duty and now their services stood terminated.

He said in this connection he had instructed all DMCs, district and taluka level officials to prepare lists of all ghost employees in their departments.

The minister said that his department had made a bill against illegal hydrants which had been signed by the Sindh Chief Minister and would be passed in the next assembly session.

“The owner/operator of illegal hydrant would be liable of Rs1 million to Rs2.5 million fine and five-year imprisonment or the both,” he said and added that there was a shortage of 350MGD water in the city. This fraction of water could be managed through removing illegal hydrants.

He further said that 18 Reverse Osmoses plants installed in the city were being converted on the purification of seawater.

“The K-4 project to provide water to the city would take three to four years to complete, therefore RO plants are converted on clean seawater to meet the water requirement of the city.” he said.

Replying to a question, the minister said that there were illegal encroachment in parks and other enmity plots. “I have personally monitored demolition of illegal structures but after my return the same have reappeared,” he said.

On cleanliness in city he said: “Only garbage lying along main roads and streets is removed by DMCs. Which is not the correct, the task is complete cleanliness of localities and drains and proper lifting of garbage and its transportation to the designated landfill sites.”

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2014