KARACHI: Elected chairman of nine towns and scores of chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors of around 100 union committees belonging to the opposition Jamaat-i-Islami staged a protest in front of the head office of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation on Saturday and demanded devolution of powers at the grassroots level.

Of the 25 town municipal corporations (TMCs) in Karachi, the JI controls nine towns and forms the biggest opposition group in the City Council.

The demonstration was held on main M. A. Jinnah Road to highlight the plight of the elected representatives of the opposition parties who are still awaiting funds and even key municipal powers to serve their constituents.

The protesters, including women, questioned the utility of loans worth millions of dollars acquired by civic bodies from international financial institutions in the name of so-called development when towns and UCs remain without funds.

Nine TMCs, dozens of UC chairmen ask mayor, Sindh govt to release funds, devolve KWSC, solid waste board at UC level

They sought immediate formation of the Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) for the equitable distribution of resources among districts.

They also warned Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab of expanding their protest campaign if he didn’t pay any heed to their demands. They declared that their protest would ultimately paralyse the local government system of the city.

Calling it the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party’s “typical anti-Karachi mindset” that had brought the metropolis on the verge of “infrastructural collapse”, they called upon the “reorganisation” of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) and devolution of authority of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB).

They demanded that the KWSC expand its power-sharing and operational mechanism to the UC level.

Addressing the demonstrators, Leader of the Opposition in the City Council Advocate Saifuddin demanded that the provincial government be released funds for UCs immediately.

He said that UC chairmen were only provided salaries of their staff in the name of funding by the provincial government.

Due to the Sindh government’s attitude, he claimed, the local government system was falling short of the fiscal, administrative and legislative autonomy which the civic bodies need to manage their functions efficiently and independently.

Speaking on the occasion, city chief of the JI Monem Zafar said that the PPP government had taken loans worth billions of rupees in the name of development for Karachi, but the situation of infrastructure and other basic facilities, including water supply, clearly suggested the fate of these funds and loans.

“Thanks to 18th Amendment, the province has received Rs1,900 billion by the federal government but the PPP government has failed to provide funds it had already announced funds,” he added.

He claimed that the city mayor had failed to deliver and asked him to either release the uplift funds or quit.

“The JI will further extend the scope of its protest to towns and UCs to completely expose the mayor and the PPP,” he added.

The chairmen of TMCs also spoke on the occasion and shared their problems.

They said that the PPP government did not increase funds for UCs as it provide just Rs500,000 to each UC on a monthly basis.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2024