The rampant corruption plaguing the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) needs to be rooted out and it has to be restructured to be brought at par with international standards, Sindh Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani said on Sunday.

“Just building roads is not good enough. The KMC’s offices need to be built on modern lines and a major reshuffle is required to make it a proper civic body,” he told The News when asked about any measures in the pipeline to improve the KMC performance.

“Currently, the KMC is lagging far behind other civic bodies of the world.”

The minister noted that corruption prevailed in all offices of the KMC and citizens faced a lot of hardships when they approached them.

He questioned the logic behind the construction of signal-free corridors, when citizens still had to contend with traffic gridlocks.

“Citizens get stuck in traffic jams for several hours and they curse police and KMC authorities.”

The minister said not only have the signal-free corridors failed to ensure smooth flow of traffic, but they have also been built in specific areas.

“Other places, particularly the Old City areas, have completely been ignored. What is the reason behind this discrimination? The development process should have been carried out in all areas of the city on an equal basis.”

He asserted that merely preparing a development budget would not make any difference unless the city is developed without discrimination.

“You cannot ignore certain areas and develop only those where you have the majority of your voters.”

It may be noted that the KMC had replaced the City District Government Karachi.

The KMC and towns are run by bureaucrats, and political pundits are of the opinion that the local government elections must be held as soon as possible so that elected representatives can take charge of these offices.

“The delay in holding the local government elections is damaging both the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement,” Durrani said.