KE allowed to collect MUCT via power bills on KMC’s behalf

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) City Council on Monday passed a resolution allowing K-Electric to collect the Municipal Utility Charges Tax (MUCT) through power bills on behalf of the KMC.

Moments after the City Council passed the resolution, Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced tabling a no-confidence motion against Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab, who chaired the City Council session.

In the general meeting of the City Council, a resolution was passed unanimously to demand that Sindh’s caretaker government pay pensions and other dues of retired employees of the KMC and the defunct district municipal corporations.

The resolution also demands immediately sanctioning a special financial bailout package for the eligible retired employees and officers to pay their retirement dues, including pension, gratuity and other related dues.

The resolution calls for providing immediate relief to thousands of retired government employees and their families who are waiting for the payment of their dues based on humanitarian and national sympathy.

Through a resolution, the council also approved the collection of the MUCT through KE bills. The resolution was passed by majority votes. Another resolution was passed by majority votes to demand that the interim government immediately provide Rs30 million to carry out development works.

During the meeting, the JI’s Qazi Sadruddin pointed out that non-members were illegally present in the City Council Hall, following which the mayor asked all the irrelevant persons to leave.

Sadruddin demanded that the council pass the KMC budget through voting. The then KMC administrator had passed a budget of Rs38.198 billion on June 14, and Wahab took the oath of office on June 19.

The JI demanded that the budget be approved by the elected council members. Sadruddin said the budget does not have any development scheme for parks in Lyari and Korangi towns. He said that only a specific union committee has been given development schemes.

The mayor replied to him that the budget had been approved in accordance with the law, and those who have any objections can present their resolution.

JI city chief Rehman warned that they would go for litigation if the budget is not passed through the council. He said Karachiites are not getting water even during winter, stressing that the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board and the Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation should be run by the elected representatives. “Why is there a problem in bringing the KMC budget to the City Council session?” he asked. He said that the budget that was passed by an administrator should be discussed in the council.

He also said that until the budget is passed through the council, there would remain a tense environment. The funds that a UC chairman gets are extremely low, he added. Responding to this, the mayor said that the law does not permit to reapprove the budget through the council. He said he would announce releasing funds to the town, but he also has to see the KMC’s budget.

He also said that there has to be a debate on the MUCT. He stressed that only if the KMC gets funds would they be able to deliver. He made the assurance that no one would be allowed to resort to corruption in the KMC.

He welcomed development schemes from town chairmen.

Speaking on Rao Anwaar’s interview, the JI’s Saifuddin Advocate said that the former police officer had revealed how land grabbing was done in the city. To this the Pakistan Peoples Party’s parliamentary party leader in the City Council, Najmi Alam, said that everyone knows which political party resorted to terrorism in the city.

Speaking at a press conference after the City Council session, Deputy Mayor Salman Abdullah Murad said they have given four months, making the assurance that the revenue of the KMC will increase.

Murad said they have invited the JI to serve the city together, adding that they had only objected to the MUCT collection through KE, but “will continue to try to solve all problems through mutual discussions”.

Alam said they want to conduct the City Council meeting by consensus. “Some people came to disturb the meeting. It was the resolution to raise the revenue of the KMC that was objected to, and we responded according to the law.”

He said the MUCT was also levied during Mustafa Kamal’s and Wasim Akhtar’s respective tenures, adding that this tax is imposed for the betterment of the city. “KE has the largest consumer network, so we want to recover bills through it.”