KARACHI, Jan 12: Sindh minister for labour, transport, industries and local government Dewan Mohammad Yousuf Farooqui said on Saturday that new bye-laws on installation of hoardings and sign-boards in the city would be enforced to generate more revenue and discourage their improper installation.

Presiding over a meeting of the Sindh Economic Development Council, convened to review the schemes offered under the programme for economic revival of Karachi, he said the government had already formulated new bye-laws with special emphasis on beautifying the city as mushroom growth of ill-designed hoardings in an irregular style had de-shaped the city.

The new bye-laws have defined the size, designs, allocation of space for installation and collection procedure of rent on the hoardings.

During the meeting, attended, among others, by the Nazims of Saddar and Jamshed Towns, the minister issued guidelines to them with regard to application of new bye-laws.

He stressed on gearing up efforts to turn Karachi into a model city. Since a majority of business concerns are located in both Saddar and Jamshed Towns, there would be a significant increase in the revenue after application of bye-laws and the funds thus collected could be utilized for revival of economic activities and creation of job opportunities, he added.

Vice Chairman of PERK Shahid Feroz informed the meeting that annual recovery made so far on account of rent on hoardings was less than Rs60 million, which could be increased up to a billion of rupees. Under the plan, each site of hoarding will have a registration number to trace out any misuse of the rented space and irregularity in that regard. Besides, the recovery contract will be auctioned through open bidding in a transparent way, he said, adding the rents so far collected will also be rationalized and optimized.

The meeting also discussed the issue pertaining to cabins placed on city footpaths for business purpose. Shahid Feroz informed that the PERK has collected about 16 designs of cabins from other countries and has approved the Singapore design. This step is also aimed at changing the shape of the city, he added.

Director-General of Katchi Abadis Authority Tasnim Ahmed Siddiqui told the meeting that there was a plan of constructing 200 public toilets in the city with the assistance of a foreign company, of which 15 have been completed. He, however, said that availability of land at the proper location was the main hindrance in carrying out the project. The minister asked the Town Nazims to provide space for construction of public toilets.

The minister said he would hold meetings with all the Town Nazims and town municipal officers of Karachi on Jan 19 to discuss further the beautification programme for the city.—PPI