KP govt to make UADAs, TMAs financially stable

PESHAWAR: The government of Khyber Pakhtu-nkhwa has decided to modernise the Urban Areas Development Authorities and Tehsil Municipal Administrations (TMAs) with the purpose to make them financially stable.

For this purpose, new reforms would be introduced in the Urban Areas Development Authorities and TMAs across the province. The decision was taken during a meeting of the Local Government Department held here on Wednesday, with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur in the chair, said a handout. The meeting was given a detailed briefing on the challenges faced by the Urban Areas Development Authorities and their solutions.

It was decided that new reforms would be implemented in all TMAs and Urban Areas Development Authorities by June of this year. To achieve this, international best practices will be adopted in these institutions. The Committee of Sponsoring Organisations of the Treadway Commission Enterprise Risk Management Framework will be enforced in these institutions. Similarly, International Public Sector Accounting Standards will also be implemented in the TMAs and Urban Areas Development Authorities.

The meeting was informed that the new reforms would lead to financial stability and improved performance of the TMAs and Urban Areas Development Authorities. The authorities said that reforms have already been implemented in the Urban Area Development Authority Kohat, yielding positive results. Before these reforms, the Urban Area Development Authority Kohat had an annual deficit of Rs 49 million, whereas after the implementation of the new reforms, it is expected to have a surplus of Rs25.7 million.The CM directed that the model of UADA Kohat be adopted in all TMAs and Urban Areas Development Authorities, emphasizing that making these institutions self-sufficient.