KARACHI, May 22: City Nazim Naimatullah Khan has said that union councils have been given about 65 million rupees for development and predicted that citizens of Karachi would witness a development revolution next year.

“This will be a record development,” he declared while formally launching a Rs3.5 million road repair scheme in UC-6, Gulshan-i-Hadeed, Bin Qasim Town on Wednesday night. Each of the city’s UCs would get the same amount for the repair of roads and streets and other development work, he said.

The Nazim said that though UCs had been vested powers under the relevant law, this appeared only prescription of a statute book. In fact, he added, they enjoyed no powers or any revenue source.

Mr Khan pointed out that UCs had the same funds which was allocated by a city government and an amount of Rs94,000 for a union council having a population of 100,000 was quite insufficient.

Keeping in view the very situation, he said, he had allocated special funds for UCs and councillors in the current budget so that UCs could carry out development works in their respective areas.

The Nazim held out the assurance that proposals for the establishment of college, school and hospital in Gulshan-i-Hadeed would be given due consideration. If possible, he added, funds would be allocated for the purpose in the next year’s budget.

He said that he would talk to the chairmen of Pakistan Steel Mill and other organizations for the solution of other problems being faced by the residents of Gulshan-i-Hadeed. He said construction of road from this town up to Tower next year would also be approved.

He said that 600 more Green buses would be arriving the city next year and by 2005 strength of the fleet would go up to 1,800 resolving the public transport problems in Karachi to a great extent. Gulshan-i-Hadeed would also be included in one of the Green buses’ routes, he added.

The city Nazim pointed out that he believed in equal treatment and that was why the urban and rural UCs had been provided an equal amount for development to bring their respective areas at par with each other.

Mr Khan said that under the present system, elected representatives had done a lot of work making people, for the first time, to realize the importance of public representation.

He regretted that the provincial government had still not approved disbursement of honoraria to Nazims and councillors whereas the city government had already allocated the funds.

The ceremony was addressed also by UC Nazim Ghulam Raza Jatoi and Naib Nazim Ahmed Qureshi.—APP