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Ghani says do away with municipalities if Sindh govt has to do everything

By Our Correspondent
August 01, 2019

KARACHI: The Sindh Local Government Minister, Saeed Ghani, has said if the provincial government is supposed to do every civic work in Karachi then there is no reason to continue with the existing municipal agencies as “we will do all the work on our own.”

Speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday at his camp office in Clifton, the Local Government minister said the Sindh government has even offered to take up the revenue collection task of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation to enhance income of the city’s municipal authority.

He said the Sindh government had given Rs 500 million to the KMC in the previous financial year for clearing of storm water drains and now there is no excuse on their part for not carrying out this compulsory civic job. “It is not true that Rs 500 million was given after many years and claimed the grant is given by the Sindh government almost every year,” he said.

The LG minister said besides the grant for clearing storm drains, up to 95 per cent recurring expenditures of KMC are met through grants given by the Sindh government every year. He said the salary, pensions, electricity, and other utilities’ bills etc of KMC are all paid through Sindh government grants. “We have even offered the KMC to stop collecting the meagre revenue and should instead give us the responsibility to do that on their behalf and we will do it more efficiently to enhance their income,” he said.

Ghani said the residential settlements in suburbs of the city like Yousuf Goth, Saadi Town, Rais Amrohvi Town, and other areas are established on the path of natural water flow of the storm drains and are inundated with rainwater during every monsoon.

In the same way no one could stop the accumulation of rainwater on the Korangi Causeway. Ghani said the rainwater that accumulated on the route of Green Line section of Bus Rapid Transit Service was cleared. Saeed Ghani said the Rs 100 billion would be spent through World Bank for revamping Karachi Water and Sewerage Board. He said due legal action would be initiated against the privatized K-Electric for causing loss of lives during rain spell in Karachi. Although it is primarily the job of federal government to initiate action against the K-Electric in such cases, the Local Government minister said.

In a statement, Sindh Information and Law Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab said the Sindh government considers K-Electric responsible for deaths due to electrocution. He said innocent people lost their lives due to inefficiency on part of the K-Electric. He said the leaders of Opposition MQM should have better spoken on the carelessness and inefficiency of K-Electric. He said that political parties, which were coalition partners in the centre should better question the federal government about the inefficiency of the K-Electric.