KARACHI: Leader of the Opposition in the City Council Advocate Saifuddin on Monday denounced what he described as “alarming irregularities and widespread corruption” within the administration of Pakistan Peoples Party-led Chanesar Town.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Saifuddin particularly criticised the significant increase in residential and commercial property taxes and trade licence fees introduced by the Chanesar Town chairman.

Flanked by the local government representatives and leaders of the traders’ community, the opposition leader demanded that the recent hikes in taxes and fees be rolled back immediately, calling them “outrageous” and unjustified. He

warned that failure to reverse the decision would provoke a political backlash.

“If these anti-people measures are not withdrawn without delay, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) will be compelled to launch a protest movement against the Sindh government,” he said, holding the ruling PPP responsible for misgovernance in the town.

JI’s Saifuddin demands rollback of increase in property tax, trade licence fee

Advocate Saifuddin alleged that the Chanesar Town administration, led by Chairman Farhan Ghani, was showing blatant bias against union committees run by opposition parties. He claimed that sanitary

workers from opposition-held areas were being diverted to unrelated assignments in a move that reflected political victimisation.

He also accused Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani of complicity in the alleged corruption and mismanagement, pointing to two major contracts — one worth one billion rupees and another Rs500 million — that he claimed were awarded to benefit Mr Ghani’s political allies, including his own brother.

The opposition leader reiterated his call for Mr Ghani’s immediate resignation, alleging that departments under his control were mired in corruption. He also criticised both the federal and Sindh governments for neglecting Karachi in the 2025–2026 budgets, arguing that the city and its residents had been consistently sidelined.

Criticising the overall performance of the city administration, Advocate Saifuddin said that despite collecting billions in revenue from Karachi, the city remains deprived of basic civic amenities.

He pointed to deteriorating sanitation, water shortages, broken roads and rampant encroachments as signs of the administration’s failure. “Residents of Chanesar Town and across Karachi continue to suffer

due to the incompetence and negligence of local authorities,” he said, adding that the City Council had become a rubber stamp under the PPP’s influence, with little to no effective oversight of the affairs of towns.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2025