KARACHI, June 8: City Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, has said that present local government system is better than all previous systems, as the authority has been devolved to the grass-root level.
He was addressing the participants of an advance course at National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), said a press release issued on Sunday.
The City Nazim said that public representatives had been allowed to perform government duties for the first time, which helped in solving the basic problems.
However, he pointed out that some people had not accepted the system at all.
He referred to the Sindh Local Government Ordinance (SLGO), which says that all ‘Authorities’ would form a part of the city government.
However, he regretted that Sindh Kutchi Abadi Authority, Karachi Building Control Authority, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board were not merged with the city government. Despite the issuance of notification, he said that heads of these authorities continued to enjoy their powers. He alleged that these officers did not want any merger with the city government and they had won the support of bureaucracy who also wanted that such ‘Authorities’ should remain autonomous.
He claimed that he had discussed this matter with President Musharraf and the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB). Naimat expressed hope that the president and the NRB would soon reach a conclusion in this regard.
Mr Khan said that the city government was collecting the property tax from towns. He informed that the city government had handed over a sum of one billion rupees approximately to the provincial government. However, the amount was not given back to the city government so far, he added.
He said that district governments in the present system were very powerful. He further said that the MPAs had no development works with them, while it was the responsibility of Nazims to carry out uplift works in their areas, according to a set procedure, which had created a rift between the two.
The City Nazim maintained that he had already said it before elections that MNAs and MPAs should contact the Nazims for solving problems confronting the masses, but they opted to contact the authorized officers directly bypassing the set procedure. This had maligned the atmosphere of peaceful working, he added.
Referring to a statement made by President Musharraf, he said, “Nazims are subordinate to the chief ministers.” The City Nazim held that district governments were working under a law. “Why the CM should meddle in our affairs unnecessarily,” he remarked.
The city government of Karachi had carried out all development works in a transparent manner and solved issues confronting common man, the precedence of which could not be found in the whole of Pakistan, he contended.
Mr Khan said that Karachi was larger than 80 member countries of the UNO and its problems were immense. He pointed out that if the city government was allowed to levy Port User Tax and Road User Cess all problems of the metropolis would have been solved in three years. For early completition of a few mega projects, he said that the pace of work had been accelerated with the cooperation of private sector.
He stressed on the service of water supply through tankers to the two per cent kutchi abadis, where pipelines were not laid as yet. Unless and until water supply system was not improved and new pipelines were not laid, the city government could not abolish the tanker service altogether.
Meanwhile, the City Nazim Naimatullah Khan addressed at the prize distribution ceremony of Malakhara competitions at Bin Qasim Town on Sunday.
He said that the city government would soon organize ‘City Games’ in which Malakhara would also be included. The City Games would promote ‘Malakhara’ and help it gain national as well as international recognition, he added.
The ceremony was also addressed by Ghulam Abbas Talpur, who proposed that the city government must have its own Malakhara team. — PPI