City Council resolution calls for shifting oil tanker terminal to Zulfiqarabad

Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) City Council on Thursday passed a unanimous resolution to shift the oil terminal from Shireen Jinnah Colony to Zulfiqarabad as per orders from the Supreme Court (SC). The council lauded the order issued by the Chief Justice and efforts done by Mayor Wasim Akhtar.

He apprised the council that the deadline to follow the SC’s orders was till Monday. He said joint action would be taken upon failure of implementation of the court’s orders, adding that pressure would be mounted to shift the oil terminal at all costs as it created a nuisance for the city.

Akhtar said a final report has been submitted before the SC, mentioning that the oil terminal stretched across 200 acres of land where Rs1,000 were being charged per day for parking tankers.

He said relief funds made available to the council amounted to Rs360 million whereas expenditure is estimated to be Rs247 million with Rs860 million to be spent on Phase I alone. He added that about 200 to 300 oil tankers could be parked at the terminal in a day. He concluded that despite shortage of funds, work was in progress.

Metropolitan Commissioner Dr Syed Saif-ur-Rehman also attended the session during which six resolutions were tabled and approved unanimously whereas a resolution regarding a charged parking contract was referred to the concerned committee of the council for further review.Akhtar said that he raised the issue of equal prices of petroleum products in Karachi and Peshawar at the hearing of a case regarding Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority in SC. He claimed that prices all over the world did not include transportation charges; therefore, Karachi should be exempted from paying for them.

Nullah cleaning drive

Mayor said that storm water drains cleaning process was underway. He mentioned that the work began at a cost of Rs500 million received from provincial government, which were being utilised in an effective and transparent manner.

He said that encroachments on drains would also be removed along with desilting, repair and maintenance works. Akhtar added that in the past such cleaning drives were a futile annual exercise as they were always done without a proper waste management system.

“The drains across the city remain choked as over 60 per cent garbage is dumped in sewers and drains,” mayor lamented, adding that plastic bags created difficulties in cleaning of drains.

Tribute for Yousufi The council also expressed sorrow on the death of renowned satirist and humorist Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi who passed away on Wednesday. They said that it marked the end of an era as Mushtaq Ahmed Yousufi was a great name in Urdu literature.