Mayor again assured of govt support for cleanliness drive

Sindh Minister for Local Government Jam Khan Shoro on Sunday again assured city mayor Waseem Akhtar that the Sindh government was willing to extend all out support for his 100-day cleanliness campaign.

Addressing a press conference at his office, the local government minister said the garbage cleaning work of districts South and West had been outsourced to a private Chinese firm.

Shoro said the outsourcing was done by the Solid Waste Management Board which was now looking after the task of garbage removal; the decision to have the two districts cleaned from the firm was taken after their respective councils had requested the board to clean their districts.

The minister stated that the four districts could also request the board to get their respective districts cleaned after consulting their councils; if not, the districts could do it on their own.

He said the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) would this year be provided with 10 fire tenders and a 100 meter snorkel by the Sindh government.

Shoro further assured that he would work collectively for the cleanliness and development of the city with the local government members.

Meanwhile, responding to Akhtar’s previous frequent statements with respect to being handed over the local government powers, provincial chief secretary Rizwan Memon while speaking to The News said the mayor had all powers under the Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2013, without any cuts or bindings.

Memon said that if the mayor had any demands for additional powers or funds, he could speak to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah since he was the final authority.

He said the CM had already assured the mayor of providing funds for the 100-day cleanliness campaign. The mayor had demanded the Karachi Development Authority, Karachi Water and Sewerage Boardd and the Sindh Building Control Authority be given under his command.