‘No funds to pay increased salaries to KMC workers’

While the people of Karachi pay more taxes than others cities of the country, they get nothing in return.

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar said this on Friday as he spoke to the media at a ceremony at the Frere Hall, during which the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) received ambulances equipped with modern technology by the Master Motors.

The mayor said the KMC even did not sufficient funds to release the salaries of its employees. He added that the government employees in Sindh had been provided a 15 percent increment in salaries expect those working in the KMC. "The Sindh government is not releasing additional amount through which the employees' salaries would be increased. Are employees of the KMC and District Municipal Corporations [DMCs] not Pakistani citizens?" he asked.

Akhtar said the KMC employees were losing their temper and holding protests against no increase in their salaries. Like other institutions, he stated, the KMC was also a Sindh's institution and it worked under the chief minister. “If the Sindh government didn't pay additional amount for increased salaries, we would devise a mechanism soon."

The mayor said they had paid Abbasi Shaheed Hospital's power bills through borrowing money. He added that the firefighters would be paid a special fire allowance on Monday. Akhtar also asked the people to voluntarily adopt precautionary measures or else the COVID-19 pandemic would be aggravated. Masters Motors Chief Executive Officer Daniyal Malik, Samir Malik, Abdul Karim, KMC Senior Director Coordination Masood Alam, Senior Director Medical Services Dr Salma Kausar and others were also present.