The transition period for setting up town municipal corporations (TMCs) has been over and all the TMCs are fully functional.
The Sindh government will also financially empower the union committees by transferring their due funds to them within one month. Sindh Caretaker Local Government Minister Muhammad Mubeen Jumani made this announcement on Monday as he met at his office a delegation of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) led by its Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman. Jumani assured the JI delegation that he had no political affiliation and all his steps as part of the interim provincial government were meant to serve the people of the province.
He informed the JI representatives that action had been launched to purge the municipal agencies of ghost employees so that funds transferred to the TMCs and UCs could be maximally utilised for the public service.
He claimed that 100 illegal hydrants of a total of over 350 such unauthorised water supply points in the city had been demolished by the Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) and action in this regard had been taking place on a daily basis.
Upon the suggestion that towns be empowered to look after the garbage disposal system being run by the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board in the city, the caretaker local government minister said the relevant laws and prevailing waste disposal systems in Karachi had to be analysed first before making any such decision.
Responding to another demand made by the JI, Jumani said he would issue orders to the officials concerned to make sure that all under-construction buildings in the city displayed the no-objection certificates obtained from the relevant agencies for the building works.
Earlier, the Karachi JI chief complained that funds were not being released to the new town administrations and UCs in the city although much time had passed since the elected local government representatives took oath.
He said the TMCs and UCs had been facing a number of problems as it had become utterly impossible for their elected leadership to meet the expectations of their voters.