KARACHI, Nov 1: Reports of City Council’s committees are lying in cold storage since long. Not a single recommendation forwarded by the committees have been implemented since the introduction of the devolution plan in 2001.

The committees were formed to monitor the performance of various departments, identify the areas in which improvement was needed and suggest recommendations for rectifying the deficiencies and loopholes. In all there are thirty-two committees — covering sectors like education, environment, health, finance, fisheries and sports — which are required to prepare quarterly reports in the areas that are assigned to them.

The committees have so far submitted about 100 different reports in the City Council. However, the City government is yet to implement the recommendations.

Under the Sindh Local Government Ordinance (SLGO) 2001, the City Nazim is bound to inform the City Council within thirty days of the actions taken by him regarding the committees’ recommendations. But the Nazim has ignored the recommendations put forward by the various committees and no step has been taken about the inefficiencies in the various departments, Chairman of the Agriculture Committee — A. Razzaq Siddique — told PPI.

He said the committees’ reports had been prepared after hectic efforts and with huge spending of the government’s money.

He criticized the non-cooperative attitude of the EDOs of different departments, saying they never turned up for the committees’ meetings to answer queries.

City Council members, being elected representatives, were aware of the problems confronting the people and could suggest recommendations to resolve their problems, the Chairperson of the Environment Committee, Mehrun Nissa Baloch said. — PPI