‘Amended local govt bill not holy scripture that cannot be changed’

In order to empower the elected local government, the Sindh government has decided to vest the chairmanship of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) in the Karachi mayor.

This disclosure was made by Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Friday as he addressed a joint press conference with Sindh Information Minister Saeed Ghani at the Sindh Assembly building.

In a bid to appease the opposition parties, which have been making hue and cry since the recent passage of the new local government bill from the Sindh Assembly terming it against the spirit of devolution of powers as enshrined in the constituiton, the local government minister said the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board would also be headed by elected local government representatives once it was devolved to the divisional level.

He clarified that the union councils, after the amendment to the local government law, would continue to issue birth and death certificates as was the case in the previous municipal system. He added that the job had just been linked with the National Database and Registration Authority to make it error-free.

Shah maintained said that the authority related to several agencies, including those related to the public health engineering department, would also be devolved to the municipal bodies in Sindh.

The information minister said the process of devolution of powers to the local government agencies had been further accelerated with the passage of the new amendment bill. He added that the UC chairmen would get the powers to supervise the affairs of the government-run schools and hospitals in their respective jurisdiction.

The Sindh government had also planned to amend the provincial police law to make the SHO of the area police station answerable to the UC chairman by submitting a monthly progress report to the elected local government representative who would also convey his suggestions and reservations on the law and order issues, Ghani said, adding that similar powers would also be available to the elected mayor and town chairmen.

He said the Sindh cabinet in its meeting the previous day had also decided to empower the municipal agencies to collect property tax as earlier, the same task was carried out by the provincial excise and taxation department.

Ghani maintained that it was wrong to assume that the office of the mayor of Karachi had been rendered powerless after the passage of the new local government amendment bill. He said that the city’s mayor was just a component of the local government setup and it was wrong to assume that the mayor represented the entire municipal system.

He said the Sindh government was ready to undo legislation so that locally managed schools and hospitals remained with the municipal agencies as it was being demanded by the opposition.

He explained that the Sindh government had made the move to assume the control of these local health and educational facilities for the sole purpose of upgrading their standards.

The local government minister maintained that a majority of the suggestions forwarded by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Jamaat-e-Islami had been incorporated in the newly passed bill.

He claimed that major opposition parties in the province had recommended revival of the town system. The Sindh government was ready to negotiate with the opposition to further improve the law and Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had also directed to consult the relevant stakeholders for improving the local government setup in Sindh.

The Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill-2021 was not at all a holy scripture that it could not be further amended or improved, Shah stated.