Ghani warns UCs of closing accounts if they don’t spend as per govt’s guidelines

Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani has warned that the accounts of the union committees (UCs) in Karachi will be shut in case they fail to observe the guidelines of the provincial government regarding the procedure to spend their increased fiscal share under the Octroi Zila Tax (OZT).

The local government minister issued a warning to this effect on Wednesday while chairing a meeting attended by the municipal commissioners of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and towns in Karachi. The meeting had been convened to consider encroachments, waste issues and anti-social elements damaging vital civic infrastructure in the city.

Ghani told the participants of the meeting that the Sindh government had increased the monthly OZT share of the towns and union councils in the province. He said an increase in the fiscal share would allow the towns and UCs to have funds at their disposal for uplift works after paying salaries and pensions to their staffers.

He told the meeting that the fiscal assistance provided to every UC had increased from Rs500,000 to Rs 1.2 million. The Sindh government would also provide guidelines to the UCs defining various heads to spend this increased financial assistance, the minister said.

He added that the people should become the ultimate beneficiaries of the Sindh government’s move to increase by more than double the monthly financial assistance provided to the UCs. He said the Sindh government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) fully believed in serving the masses in the best possible manner.

He told the participants of the meeting that the first phase of an anti-encroachment drive would be launched in the city along 30 main roads identified by the municipal commissioners of the KMC and towns.

Ghani informed the meeting that the chief minister had expressed serious resentment at the issue of encroachments and showed his seriousness in tackling this problem. He added that the municipal commissioners of the KMC and towns would identify 30 main roads in Karachi for launching the anti-encroachment drive on an immediate basis.

He told the meeting that the anti-encroachment drive in the second phase would cover internal roads and streets of the towns in the city. Ghani directed the KMC and town administrations to immediately rescind all the temporary permissions issued by them.

He directed the towns to submit to his office reports in the next 24 hours about income and other details of the road-cutting permissions, other temporary NOCs, and charged parking zones in their respective jurisdictions, whether managed by them or the KMC.

The local government minister said the towns should also provide comprehensive reports in the next 24 hours about temporary permissions issued to hotels for storing building materials and placing generators in their jurisdiction.

The meeting was also attended by the Sindh government's additional chief Secretary for local government, special secretary of the local government department, CLICK Project Director Ayesha Hameed, and other officials.