KMC owned valuable assets if properly managed: Nasir

Sher Afzal

Karachi : Provincial Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that there has been a lot of improvement after the appointment of administrators in Karachi Metropolitan Corporation  and District Municipal Corporation and added that  Priority should be given to the ongoing development projects in the city. The Provincial Minister stated that KMC owned valuable assets if properly managed, the corporation would need no grants

He expressed these views while presiding over an important meeting regarding  KMC development schemes at the KMC headquarters here on Wednesday. Secretary Local Government Najam Shah, Administrator Karachi Laiq Ahmed, Deputy Commissioner South Irshad Ali Sodhar, Senior Director Municipal Services Masood Alam, KMC Finance Advisor Afaq Saeed, Special Secretary Local Government Najeeb Ahmed, Director General Works and Services Shabih-ul-Hassan Zaidi, Sindh Local Government Minister Focal Person for KMC Karamullah Waqasi and others were also present.

The Provincial Minister for Local Government said that Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has given special instructions for the development of Karachi. He directed to carry out  scrutiny of  ongoing development  schemes  and priority should be given to important schemes in terms of completion. “If additional funds are needed,  he will request the Chief Minister  Sindh for special grant.

Syed Nasir Hussain Shah directed Administrator Karachi Laiq Ahmed to expedite the process of scrutiny of KMC assets given at low rates and make the charged parking system transparent to increase KMC’s revenue. The Provincial Minister for Local Government said that advertisements were allowed in other major cities of country but Karachi was exploring these potential avenue of income generation due to lack of bye laws for awarding contracts to advertising companies . He directed to nominate focal person for preparing by laws for advertisement.

The Provincial Minister added that several Mega Projects were completed under local government department that yet to be handed over to KMC and   directed the Secretary Local Government to hand over the completed projects to  KMC after completing all codal formalities including Drig Road Underpass, Mehran Underpass and other completed projects.

Syed Nasir Hussain Shah was of view that appropriate utilization of available resources and proper strategy could solve financial problems and move the institution on the path of stability and development. During the meeting, other  development schemes  including improvement of infrastructure in the city under KMC were reviewed in detail and future strategies were worked out. Financial situation of KMC and availability of funds were also discussed.