City council unanimously demands Rs162bn from Centre for development

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) city council on Thursday passed a resolution with unanimous votes against the delay in the payment of Rs162 billion by the Karachi Transformation Committee of the federal government.

Deputy Mayor Syed Arshad Hassan chaired the council’s session, while Dr Syed Saifur Rehman, the metropolitan commissioner and the secretary of the city council, was also present.

In the resolution, the local government’s representatives demanded that the federal administration release on immediate basis the payment amounting to Rs162 billion for developmental works.

The council also demanded that the Centre release funds for the current fiscal year so that the city could be transformed from its rickety state and the problems of its citizens could be resolved.

As many as 18 other resolutions were passed by the city council, and voting was held for several private resolutions, all of which were passed.

The session approved giving the School of Nursing of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) the status of a college. In the light of the recommendations of the Pakistan Nursing Council, the LG representatives also approved the recruitment of academic and other staff.

Now the three-year general nursing training programme will gradually become a four-year generic Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Due to this, the resolution stated that ASH and other hospitals operating under the KMC will get trained and qualified nurses.

Prayers were offered during the session for former Sindh governor Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, former federal minister Syed Safwanullah, poet Arif Shafeeq, those who lost their lives in the recent cold wave and due to rain and snowfall in Azad Kashmir, and for the nine North Karachi residents who were killed because of a fire in a van.

The KMC’s 16-member team of urban research and rescue that participated in the rescue operation after a building in Sukkur collapsed were applauded in the session by awarding them shields.

Besides this, approvals were given for auctioning off shops in Safari Park, renovation at different graveyards of the city, and contract for the collection of licence fees of different chicken meat shops.

The session also decided the handing over of janitorial van services to ASH, as well as the naming of the flyover at Rashid Minhas Road after Maj Adeel Shahid Shaheed.

It was also decided that graveyards across the city would be registered, the registered graveyards would be handed over to the elected chairmen and union committees would be made responsible for the administrative affairs of their respective graveyards.

The city council also decided imposing gate entry fees at the Zulfiqarabad Oil Terminal, and including residential apartments falling under the jurisdiction of Karachi in the KMC’s record of rights. The session also approved increasing the scrutiny fees of different plots in the city for building plan.