KARACHI, June 26: City Nazim Naimatullah Khan has said the Rs20.546 billion budget presented by the city government for the next fiscal year is the largest budget ever presented in the history of Karachi.

Explaining the salient features of the budget at a press conference in the KMC (defunct) secretariat on Wednesday, Naimatullah Khan said it was the first budget of Karachi in which no new tax had been levied. “We have honoured the promises made to the people by not imposing any new tax and efforts will be made to rationalize the present taxes, besides making its recovery system easy and simple.”

In the budget-making no area has been ignored and all development projects have been designed as to serve all towns and union councils, he maintained. The Nazim said Rs178 million had been provided to the 178 union councils; Rs29.50 million given at the disposal of women councillors; Rs4.50 million apportioned among labour councillors and Rs4.50 million among minorities councillors.

He reiterated the demand of transferring to the city government the “port-user and road-user taxes”, which would not only be helpful in turning the city government self-reliant in meeting its expenditures, but would also help it provide honorarium to the members of the union councils.

“The next year from the point of view of construction and development will turn out to be a model year for Karachi city where Rs7 billion would be spent on development and welfare works,” he remarked.

The Nazim said that education, health and communications were top most priorities. For education Rs5,202 million — 31 per cent of the budget — had been earmarked as to ensure that no child remained deprived of education and for which primary education had been made free.

Rs1,639 million for health sector, while for development works in the communication sector Rs4,965 had been apportioned.

Referring to new development projects, he said a women’s university, Quran and Hadis Academy, city radio channel, IT University, a model mosque, IT park, parking plaza, three gateways — at the airport, on Super Highway and Hub Road — have been planned. In addition, Rs15.7 million had been earmarked for coastal development.

Naimatullah Khan said that for providing better transport services at all the busy intersections of main arteries, construction of flyovers had been planned and a new technology had been adopted which would reduce half of the cost of the construction.

He said Rs10 million had been earmarked for the planned flyover at Hasan Square; Rs20 million for Sohrab Got flyover, and Rs40 million allocated for Sharea Faisal flyover. A sum of Rs5 million has been allocated for the inter-city bus terminal and Rs10 million have been earmarked to provide drinking water and lay sewerage system in the backward townships.

He said that as promised a survey of all the Kutchi Abadis had been started which would soon be linked with the main network of water supply and sewerage system.

The city government, he added, had inherited dumped sweeping machinery which could not be utilized and as such the city government had earmarked Rs40 million to buy heavy mechanised sweeping unit for maintenance of cleanliness in the city.

Apart from this, Rs20 million had been apportioned to provide better civic facilities to former rural areas of the district council, including Gadap, Bin Qasim and Malir.

For providing employment, Rs20 million had been earmarked to revive cottage industry, Rs5 million to arrange vocational training at the UCs-level and Rs10 million to meet any emergency situation arising out of any Indian adventurism.

Referring to the recent promulgated amended ordinance, he said that without financial powers, the devolution system would be meaningless and “the newly-amended ordinance has practically curtailed our financial autonomy which will affect our performance to provide services to the people.”