KARACHI, May 21: Despite the provincial ombudsman’s recommendations, no move is in sight for shifting the Site Town and UC-2 offices from Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Library at Rexer Lane and Community Hall in Old Golimar.

Justice Haziq-ul-Khairi, on a petition by a social worker, Nisar Hussain Baloch, had on May 8 asked the Sindh local government department to shift the Town offices to the former DC-West offices and the UC-2 offices to its former site, which has been turned into a police station, or to some other place.

The ombudsman had stressed that the library and the community hall, where local bodies members have moved in, should enjoy the status for which the premises were built, and serve the local community accordingly.

Local bodies officials have not only occupied the spacious Site Town Hall but also have brought two-thirds of the library and reading room under their use.

Most people, particularly women, visiting the library to satisfy their thirst for knowledge have stopped coming here as it no longer has the proper seating arrangement. Besides, the disturbance created by administration offices distracts the concentration of a serious reader.

The Nazim of the Town, Amir Nawab Khan, says he and his councillors are ready to shift to some other suitable place. He says since most of the councillors are from the Manghopir area, he would prefer a place near Habib Bank. The DC Office is the nearest such place to the Habib Bank on Manghopir Road.

The first floor of the community hall in Old Golimar’s Noor Mohammad Village was earlier used as an informal school for the neighbourhood children. Its ground floor served as a place for social gatherings and ceremonies.

The notorious bureaucratic red-tape seems to be the main hurdle in the way of shifting.

Community leaders have urged the authorities to ensure that the directive of the provincial ombudsman is enforced without further delay, returning the two buildings to their original use for the welfare of the low-income locality.—N.A.