KARACHI, Sept 6: The City Council’s proceedings on Thursday, though marred by uproar and walkouts, saw the approved of the Karachi Poultry Farm (Surveillance and Discipline) Bylaws 2007 while the resolution condemning a dispute between the KPT and the city government on parkland in the Boating Basin area was kept on the backburner.
When the resolution on poultry bylaws was tabled, the opposition demanded that the suggestion for the grant of a 25 per cent share from the licence fees to the union councils concerned be included in the bylaws. It was opposed by the treasury and a heated debate took place in which members of both sides of the divide participated.
The opposition argued that since most poultry farms were located in the rural areas, including Bin Qasim Town and Gadap, which are considered backward and financially weak, such a more would enhance their income.
However, the treasury dismissed the demand of the opposition, saying that funds were granted to the union councils on the principle of parity by the CDGK.
At the outset of the proceedings, opposition member Saifuddin, on a point of order, complained that in Wednesday’s session the attitude of the chair towards Leader of the Opposition Saeed Ghani was not reasonable. He said it was her duty to listen to the arguments of both sides.
Upon this, the convener of the House, Nasreen Jalil, said she would in no way allow any member to discuss issues which were sub judice, referring to the issues of May 12 and traffic jams, which are still being considered in court.
She went on to say that the Supreme Court had already issued directives to the city nazim regarding Karachi’s traffic problems, which she said were being implemented.
As far as the suggestion of including the Lyari and Malir Development Authorities in the list of 13 other development agencies for merger into a single authority was concerned, she said that the city nazim had already been the chairman of these authorities. She ruled that the house could only discuss matters related to the agenda.
She urged Mr Ghani not to press for an urgent debate on his resolution relating to an incident of the desecration of a minority graveyard and the Boating Basin land dispute as these matters required a thorough investigation.
However, the opposition members insisted that the house be allowed to debate these issues while Leader of the House Asif Siddiqui and others were not in favour of this.
There was uproar in the house as the convener repeatedly urged the members to maintain the decorum of the house. The opposition staged a token walkout and upon their return, the convener asked treasury member Arif Bhatti to make his submissions on the resolution.
Mr Bhatti informed the house that there were 10 suggestions in the poultry bylaws, which included a cut in the annual licence fees from Rs10,000 to Rs5,000 in the ‘B’ category of poultry farms and from Rs5,000 to Rs2,000 in the ‘C’ category.
Saifuddin and other opposition members said they only opposed the suggestion of not granting a 25 per cent share to the union councils from the annual licence fees.
They argued that most of the UCs in Gadap, Bin Qasim and Keamari towns were backward and financially in a poor condition and needed funds for the execution of uplift projects, but were being ignored.
Treasury leaders Asif Siddiqui and Masood Mehmood did not agree with the opposition’s plea and dismissed the contention that the CDGK had been ignoring the union councils in question.
Upon this the opposition again staged a token walkout.
Later, the convener put the resolution to the vote and it was adopted by a majority.
The members who took part in the debate included Abdul Razzak, Abdul Jalil, Imran Ahmad, Shahbaz Hussain, Anwar Baloch, Waqar Hussain, Mohammad Yaqub, Javed Jadoon, Afaq Beg, Shaikh Mehbub-ur-Rehman and Ramzan Awan.
The convener ruled that the resolution of the opposition on the parkland issue would be taken up in the next session. She adjourned the session for Monday.