Administrator approves Rs33bn budget for KMC

Karachi
A budget amounting to Rs33.6 billion was approved by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) administrator Saqib Ahmed Soomro on Friday, exercising his powers of the KMC council, for the financial year 2015-2016.
This year’s budget has Rs166 million more than last fiscal year and at least 37 major projects part of provincial and district annual development programmes are also scheduled to be completed this year.
The expected revenue estimates for the upcoming financial year stand at Rs33.8 billion while the expected expenditure could be around Rs33.6 billion.
Meanwhile, receipts for the past financial year stand at Rs21.7 billion while capital receipts are Rs5.8 billion.
Around Rs14.2 billion have been earmarked for development projects. Other expenditures include Rs14.1 billion under the head of establishment, Rs2.8 billion as contingent, Rs427.5 million for repair and maintenance while Rs2 billion would be distributed to various district municipal corporations.
The KMC will initiate work on more than 11 development schemes in the upcoming financial year with its own resources.
The budget document was signed by KMC administrator Saqib Ahmed Soomro in the presence of metropolitan commissioner Samiuddin Siddiqui, financial advisor Afaq Saeed, senior director municipal services Masood Alam, director general technical services Niaz Ahmed Soomro, senior director human resource management Shoaib Waqar, senior director finance Munawwar Imam, senior director health and medical services Dr Salma Kausar, director budget Mehmood Baig, director council Ghufran Ahmed and others.
Speaking on the occasion, KMC administrator Saqib Soomro said the municipal authority had limited resources. He said before the city government came into being in 2001, it had 11,000 employees and when the KMC was restored after its dissolution, the number of employees had crossed the 32,000 mark.
He said the resources of KMC had stayed the same while its expenditures had increased manifold.
Owing to this situation, he explained, the KMC was unable to start development activities with its own resources. He said the agency found it cumbersome to even pay salaries to its staff which amounted to more than a billion rupees each month.
Soomro said other essential expenditures to be made by the KMC included feeding the animals kept in zoo and Safari Park, funds required for providing health and medical facilities at KMC hospitals, charges and other official expenses. He said these expenses totalled to about Rs2.5billion.
“It was not easy to prepare a budget in such conditions but we still tried to provide the people with a balanced plan for the next fiscal year,” he said. “No new tax has been applied on the people. I am thankful to the Sindh government for providing all possible support to the KMC by providing us with Rs13 billion in the upcoming financial year.”
The KMC has plans to implement a number of development projects in various parts of the city during 2015-2016. In this regard, it has earmarked a sum of Rs14.2 billion, including Rs6.4 billion for its engineering department.
The projects include construction of a commercial parking plaza in Shahabuddin market at a cost of Rs350 million, construction of Zulfiqarabad oil tankers terminal at a cost of Rs300 million, installation of wireless video surveillance system at a cost of Rs269 million, construction of a boundary wall around city’s graveyards at a cost of Rs250 million, development works in Orangi Cottage Industrial Zone Rs250 million, addition of cardiac emergency centre in KMC hospital in Shah Faisal Coloyn at a cost odf Rs208.6 million, construction and rehabilitation works of dispensaries, hospitals and mother and child health care centres at a cost of Rs189.8 million, construction and rehabilitation of Shara-e-Noorjehan at a cost of Rs157.3 million, repair of flyovers, bridges and underpasses at a cost of Rs100 million, purchase of animals for Safari Park and zoos at a cost of Rs55 million and building another parking plaza in block 7 of Clifton area at an estimated cost of Rs50 million.