KARACHI: A parking lot in Clifton has been rented out to a restaurant by the Saddar Town administration “to increase its income and to create jobs for poor people”, said Sindh Local Government Minister Siraj Durrani in the Sindh Assembly during the question hour on Monday.

He was responding to a question asked by the National People’s Party legislator Arif Mustafa Jatoi about the conversion of a parking lot on the main Clifton road into a restaurant for only Rs2,000 per month despite claims by the department regarding carrying out anti-encroachment operations.

The assembly session, presided over by deputy speaker Shehla Raza, began an hour behind schedule. Mr Jatoi pointed out that despite having such a huge cabinet only one minister was present in the assembly.

The question hour pertained to the local government department. Even one of the legislators, Fayyaz Butt, whose three questions came up, was not present in the house.

Ms Raza also took notice of the absence of provincial secretaries from the assembly. Responding to Mr Jatoi’s question, minister Durrani said that a portion of the parking lot in front of plots BC 6 and BC 7 in Block 5, Scheme 5, Clifton, had been given temporarily on rent out for night sitting by the Saddar Town Municipal Administration without causing any obstruction in the flow of traffic and the movement of pedestrians during temporary sitting after sunset. It had been done to increase the Saddar TMA’s income, he said, adding that poor people would be rendered jobless if the restaurant was removed from the parking lot.

Conceding to the contention of Marvi Rashdi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional that illegal intercity and inter-provincial bus terminals in Lea Market could not be removed despite repeated efforts during the past many years, the minister said that an intercity bus terminal for the Balochistan-bound buses was built at Yousuf Goth in Baldia Town on the RCD Highway in 2006 and while all bus stands had moved there, the Khuzdar-bound buses could not be shifted though a booking office had been allocated to the operators since 2006 and despite repeated efforts the buses continued to operate from Lea Market. Even the Sindh High Court had directed the law-enforcement agencies to stop it, but the operations continued. He said operations of buses for the interior of Sindh from Lea Market were also to be shifted, but at present no intercity bus terminal was available for them.

In reply to a question by Ms Rashdi regarding an increase of nine per cent in the water and sewerage tariff by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, the minister justified it and said that in view of financial constraints of the KWSB, the tariff was increased “in the best interest of the public” as well as the KWSB so that it provided better services to the citizens.

Responding to a question by Muttahida Qaumi Movement legislator Zareen Majeed regarding the allocation of funds for the KWSB’s K-IV project of 100 million gallons daily of drinking water and when work on it would be started, the minister said the Sindh government had not yet approved the PC-1 of the project, therefore, no allocation for the K-IV project had been made.

Responding to a question by Fayyaz Butt, asked in his absence by his colleague Saleem Khokhar, regarding the number of officials of the Sindh Council United Grade Service awaiting posting for promotion to the next higher scale, the minister said that over 111 officials — working from BPS 18 to BPS 8 — of the administration, engineering and accounts branches of the service were awaiting posting for promotion to the next higher scale.

Responding to a question by the MQM’s Heer Soho regarding either closure of water supply and sewerage schemes in Thatta district or their being in deplorable condition, minister Durrani said the schemes were not closed down, but had been handed over to the town municipal authorities and were in deplorable condition. He said a water supply scheme in Keti Bunder was under construction; a water supply and drainage scheme in Ghorabari was also under construction; a water supply scheme in Warashahar would be rehabilitated when funds were released; and the PC-1 of the water supply and drainage scheme for Ghulamullah was being prepared.

Responding to a question by Heer Soho regarding the Green Karachi Programme, the minister said that 11 schemes (six being federally and five provincially funded) had been conceived under the programme. Of them only one scheme — Benazir Bhutto Park at Boat Basin, Clifton, had been completed, at a cost of Rs887 million, while the 10 other schemes were in different stages of being planned and after the finalisation of approval and release of funds, the City District Government Karachi would begin development work on those 10 schemes under the programme.