PA opposition leader calls for direct election of mayor

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA and Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi has called for the direct election of the mayor in order to ensure resolution of the civic issues of Karachi.

Speaking with The News on Sunday, he said currently there appeared to be no justification for the post of mayor as all the mayoral powers has been taken by the chief minister. “Without powers and funds for the local bodies, the present system is useless and new devolution of power should take place,” he said.

“The provincial government has nothing to do with lifting of garbage, repair of sewerage lines and road as they are responsibilities of city governments.” Naqvi lamented that by forming the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board, the Sindh government had interfered in the functioning of the local governments.

He added that since the provincial government had undertaken many such tasks which were not its domain, the outcome of that was poor civic infrastructure of Karachi where sights of dilapidated roads, heaps of garbage and overflowing sewage are frequent.

The opposition leader also pointed out that the biggest municipal body of the city, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, had its authority over only 27 per cent area of the city as its vast area was managed by seven cantonment boards and other agencies such as the Karachi Port Trust.

Referring to former Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) minister Manzoor Wassan who was famed for making predictions regarding the country’s future, Naqvi said even now all what the PPP had been doing in the Sindh government was making predictions.

He said for many years, the chairmen of the Public Accounts Committee of the Sindh Assembly was someone from the PPP and the committee’s reports were yet to be made public.