KARACHI: The need to empower local government echoed in the Sindh Assembly on Friday when Leader of the Opposition Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hasan and Leader of Parliamentary Party of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Samar Ali Khan welcoming Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar to the Sindh Assembly called upon the government to enable him to bring about improvement to the city.

However, senior minister for parliamentary affairs Nisar Ahmad Khuhro responding to the opposition call to empower the local government said there was no issue of empowered or powerless government as a law framed by the Sindh Assembly for the local government had been enacted and the government had no intention to create obstacles to the local government in exercising those powers which they enjoyed under the Local Government Act 2013.

Mr Khuhro said it was a fact that local government elections were held after a big gap but it was also true that the Sindh government never blocked the LG system and, instead, after restoration of provincial autonomy it framed a law to strengthen the LG system in 2010. But when it was objected to, another law was framed by the assembly in which powers of all tiers of the local government institutions from the metropolitan corporation to the union council level were mentioned. He assured the house that the government would give all powers to the mayor/ chairman of the LG institutions according to the LG Act 2013.

Khuhro says LG bodies enjoy powers under law

He said that from 2008 to 2013 there had been no progress in relation to the local government system in the other provinces while it was Sindh which took the lead. He said if the leader of the opposition by talking about a powerful Sindh government and a powerless local government meant that of the 2001 local government system, it was another issue as there were mala fide intentions of dictator Pervez Musharraf.

Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hasan said Waseem Akhtar had desired to visit the assembly after his election as mayor where he had been a member and also served as a minister of local government and home. He asked the Sindh government to strengthen the hands of the mayor. If this city would make progress, its credit would go to Syed Murad Ali Shah, he added.

PTI parliamentary party leader Samar Ali Khan said that Karachi already had suffered a lot and stressed the need to financially empower the local government institutions so that they could deliver by solving basic problems of the people. He said he hoped that Waseem Akhtar, who had been local government minister in the past, would take action against elements involved in land grabbing and China-cutting.

Earlier welcoming the mayor to the assembly after his release from the prison, Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani remarked that Waseem Akhtar had become smarter during his stay in prison.

As there was no business left, the speaker who called the house in order at 11 am, called it a day at 12.35pm to meet on Monday at 10am.

Earlier Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro responding to the points of order raised by Sabir Qaimkhani and Dilawar Qureshi of the MQM said that in the past the local government institutions were devastated so much so that they were not even able to pay electricity bills or salaries to their staff, but now the present government had been taking corrective measures to improve their working.

The minister said the Sindh government had paid Rs800 million to WASA Hyderabad to clear Hesco dues.

He said the number of filter plants in Hyderabad was being increased. Besides, the minister said, a 36-inch-dia pipeline was being laid in Hussainabad and Latifabad 4. MPAs Sabir Qaimkhani and Dilawar Qureshi by their point of orders had drawn the attention of the house towards the plight of the people of Hyderabad where electricity was being disconnected without any notice by Hesco.

The house unanimously adopted a resolution tabled by Syed Awais Qadir Shah of the PPP calling the government to take measures to allocate jobs to qualified candidates of Combined Competitive Examination, 2013 conducted by the Sindh Public Service Commission.

In the resolution, supported by Nisar Khuhro and others, the mover pointed out that 664 candidates got through the exam and only 227 were offered jobs while the other candidates had since been waiting for jobs. He said at present the Sindh government had vacancies which should be offered to them.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2016