Municipal bodies across Sindh infested with ghost employees: LG minister

Hyderabad: Sindh Caretaker Local Government Minister Muhammad Mubeen Jumani chaired a meeting at the Shahbaz Building in Hyderabad on Thursday to discuss local government issues in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad Mayor Kashif Shoro, Commissioner Khalid Haider Shah, Deputy Commissioner Tariq Qureshi, Municipal Commissioner Anees Dasti, Regional Director Local Government Obaidullah Siddiqui and others officers were present on the occasion.

Addressing the meeting, Jumani said there were ghost employees in every municipal corporation, municipal committee, and towns and UCs, and it was necessary to get rid of them. He added that the issue of ghost employees was not exclusively Hyderabad’s issue but it was a problem existing across the province.

Later, the local government minister told the media that the HDA had to pay more for the land for Gulistan Sarmast. He said work on the fourth phase of the HDA's Gulistan Sarmast scheme was under way, and the scheme would be launched soon.

To a question, Jumani said no corruption of any kind had happened in his department in the two months of the caretaker government, and if there had been any corruption, it should be presented with evidence so that action could be taken.

To another question, he said nothing could be said about what had happened in the past. He remarked that he had had no relations with Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and likewise, the caretaker government was not a B team of any political party.

He clarified that the local government department had nothing to do with the encroachments from Jamshoro to Gadap because the matter belonged to the revenue department. Jumani said the reason for filing a case against Malik Riaz's son was the bounced cheque given by him to the Sindh Building Control Authority.

Earlier, the caretaker minister was welcomed by the Hyderabad mayor, commissioner and deputy commissioner on his arrival. Jumani reviewed the ongoing projects in Hyderabad. Mega Projects Project Director Abdul Ghani Sheikh informed him that work was under way on 16 projects in Hyderabad at a cost of Rs6 billion, and all these projects would be completed in time.