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KARACHI, Sept 1: Amid a walkout staged by the opposition, the city council on Monday hurriedly adopted a resolution approving an increase in the conversion charges of land use on roads declared commercial.
The new charges will be effective from July 1, 2008, and all outstanding dues will be recovered on the basis of the ratio of new charges, for which the city has been divided into four categories instead of the earlier six. Framed on the basis of recommendations made by a house committee, according to the new charges and classification the rate of Rs16,000 per square yard has been fixed for category one, Rs12,000 for category two, Rs8,000 for category three and Rs4,000 for category four.
When the treasury moved the resolution for debate and adoption, it was opposed by opposition leaders including Juman Darwan of the Awam Dost panel, Imran Baghpatti, Islamuddin and Abdul Razak of the Al-Khidmat group. They criticised the city district government’s land commercialisation policy and termed it adverse to the interests of the poor. Moreover, they alleged, the resolution was being bulldozed through without giving the opposition members sufficient time to read it thoroughly enough to be able to make suggestions.
The council session was presided over by senior presiding officer Masood Mehmud, who asked the leader of the house, Asif Siddiqui, to present his submissions on the issue.
Taking the floor, Mr Siddqui stated that the resolution was submitted to the house three months ago and was subsequently submitted to a house committee of which members of the opposition were also part. He regretted that opposition members had not taken part in the house proceedings.
Mr Siddiqui rejected the opposition’s contention that the increased land use conversion fees would affect the common man in any way, arguing that it would instead increase the city government’s income and the money would ultimately be spent on development works. He added that the city master plan contained rules concerning the conversion of land use.
His arguments failed to convince members of the opposition, who pointed out a number of ambiguities and insisted upon further debate on the subject. However, the presiding officer ignored the opposition’s submissions and put the resolution to the vote, which provoked the opposition members into staging a token walkout from the house.
Civic issues in UCs
Earlier, when the house resumed its session, several members raised civic issues being faced in their constituencies.
Mr Baghpatti and Mr Awan, who are members of the opposition, complained that the sewerage systems in their union councils were not functioning properly and, as a result, stagnant sewage from choked gutters was causing problems. They held officials of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board responsible for the situation.
From the Haq Parast panel, Javaid Jadoon criticised the management of the Karachi Electric Supply Company for its failure to improve its power generation capacity. He called for the hand-over of the control of the utility to the city government.
Ms Kulsoom drew the house’s attention towards the water shortages being experienced in Lyari town while Ms Mehrunissa complained about endemic traffic jams, saying that she arrived late for the city council session because she had been stuck in traffic of Sharea Faisal.
Shah Jehan Baloch from Lyari town complained about the low gas pressure in his union council and said that because of this, people were facing great difficulties in cooking and washing.
Meanwhile, Anwar Baloch referred to a recent dengue virus case in his union area and claimed that no fumigation drive had been undertaken in his union council for the past six to seven months. However, treasury member Mirza Sajid Beg denied Mr Baloch’s allegation and stated that each town was fumigated every month, a contention in which he was supported by Dr Nikhat.
Illegal hydrants also came up for discussion, the operation of which was opposed by both the treasury and opposition benches who demanded the immediate closure of such hydrants.
Resolution against KESC
Having recently displayed unity on various issues, treasury and opposition members adopted a unanimous resolution calling for the abrogation of the power utility’s agreement and demanded that the government assume control immediately.
The resolution called for an end to prolonged power breakdowns during Ramazan, particularly at the time of Sehri and Iftar.
The house adopted three other resolutions, the first of which suggested measures to maintain the sanctity of Ramazan including the closure of hotels and restaurants during fasting hours, a ban on food consumption in public places, and bans on film screenings in cinemas. Through the second resolution, the council demanded a complete ban on the illegal hydrants operating on Manghopir Road and other parts of the city, in order to stop the illegal sale of water. The third resolution called for ensuring that domestic consumers received a regular supply of gas. Noting that the gas pressure was very low in some parts of the city, it called for speedy remedial measures particularly in view of Ramazan.
The session was later prorogued by the presiding officer.
