MQM submits bill for allowing mayor to run KWSB

Lawmakers submit private bill to assembly secretariat as party kicks off efforts to empower its soon-to-be mayor

Karachi

The lawmakers of the opposition Muttahida Qaumi Movement submitted a private amendment bill to the provincial assembly’s secretariat on Wednesday proposing that the mayor of the city should also be the chairman of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board in line with the policy of devolving powers to the grassroots level

The submission of private bill marks the beginning of the MQM’s efforts for the amendment of the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 so that local government representatives can be empowered as per the spirit of the Constitution

Similar private bills might be submitted in the provincial assembly in the near future for amending the local government law in accordance with the Article 140-A of the Constitution.

The article calls for the devolution of due political, administrative, and financial powers to local governments.

During provincial assembly proceedings, on several occasions, MQM lawmakers have taken up the issue of the current local government law depriving the Karachi mayor of due administrative authority to the extent that he cannot even manage the affairs related to garbage disposal – hinting at the recent formation of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board.

The provincial-level board, instead of a system developed at the level of districts or divisions, will be responsible for managing affairs related to municipal waste in the entire province.

MQM MPAs Syed Khalid Ahmed, Syed Anwer Raza Naqvi, and Jamal Ahmed jointly submitted their proposed private bill.

The bill is called the “Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (Amendment) Bill, 2015” and it has been moved under Rule No. 94 of the Rules of procedure of the Sindh Assembly. It proposes an amendment in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Act, 1996.

It is proposed that mayor of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation will also act as the chairperson of the water board.

Besides, an MPA from Karachi will be nominated by the speaker to act as the vice-chairperson of the board.

The bill reads, “The purpose of this amendment is to make the devolution of administrative powers as per the spirit of Article 140-A of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”

Speaking on the occasion, MPA Khalid Ahmed said his party had started the constitutional struggle for securing due powers for the incoming mayor.

He added that his party was waging the struggle for empowering elected local governments in every district of the province, not juts in Karachi.

In the local government system during the era of former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the city nazim also held the position of the KWSB chairperson on an ex-officio basis.

With the Pakistan People’s Party coming into power in the province after the 2008 general elections, the provincial local government minister was handed over this post on a similar basis.

Presently, Muhammad Sajid Jokhio, a PPP MPA from PS-130, Karachi, a constituency comprising Gadap and Bin Qasim towns, is acting as the vice chairperson of the KWSB.

Previously when Sharjeel Inam Memon was the local government minister and holding the office of the KWSB chairperson, had raised the issue of overstaffing in the water utility on political lines that had created a financial crisis for the water board.

Memon had ordered the launch a biometric verification system, reopening of salary accounts in the Sindh Bank and other disciplinary measures for the employees of local government agencies in the city including the KWSB to detect “ghost employees”  His measures had attracted widespread criticism from municipal employees in the city.