HYDERABAD, July 20: Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister for Local Bodies Wasim Akhtar on Thursday said that a notification about formation of the Hyderabad city district government would be issued soon as the summary was lying with the chief minister.
He rejected fears of nationalists and political parties about the city government because it was purely an administrative matter.
Speaking to a group of journalists at the district nazim secretariat after addressing UC nazims and naib nazims, he invited those opposing the city government that if they have valuable suggestions to share.
He said that like the creation of new districts, the formation of city district government in Hyderabad was an administrative issue because the district qualifies to have a city government in the light of Sindh Local Government Ordinance.
He said that the creation of new districts was opposed by nationalists and other political parties but today people were deriving maximum benefit and getting relief.
“It is a non-issue by opponents because we are talking about provincial autonomy and one day we will tell you that Sindh has been given full autonomy”, he said.
He said that the MQM wanted to get development packages for remaining 21 districts of Sindh and Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Nawabshah districts were on top of the list.
He said that Karachi was given package after a long time by the president and for that reason the MQM was trying to take packages for other districts.
He said that those major organisations which were working in Karachi were contributing towards the package.
He said that there was world of difference between city district governments of Karachi and Hyderabad because departments were closely inter-linked in the former where more city governments could not be formed.
“There is no political gain involved in it because city government’s concept is derived from National Reconstruction Bureau’s devolution plan for which certain criteria has been laid down in the SLGO”, he said.
He said that “Jinnahpur” was a dead issue for which the officer concerned who was behind this bogey had apologised.
“Let us look forward for our better future. All of us who live in Hyderabad and in Sindh are Sindhis and there is no division of Sindhi or Urdu-speaking community”, he said.
He said that Altaf Hussain had talked to President Musharraf for development packages of other districts.
He said that such projects would be presented by way of a summary adding that details of priority works in districts of Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Nawabshah had been received.
He said that the Asian Development Bank had given $60 million for upgradation of 700 villages in Badin, Mirpurkhas, Jacobabad and Dadu where drains, electricity, sewerage and road infrastructure would be upgraded.