Rumpus mars KMC City Council meeting

Author: Aslam Shah

KARACHI: Uproar marred the City Council meeting of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) on Tuesday and the meeting was postponed for an indefinite period.

The opposition later in protest boycotted the further proceedings and walked out the house. However, treasury bench continued the council meeting and approved the one-point agenda on funds needed on a daily basis required for repair machinery and equipment of electrical and mechanical departments.

Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar after the resolution of the agenda adjourned the proceedings for an indefinite period.

Talking to journalist after the meeting, Waseem said that City Council was united and he had full support of the members.

He said if opposition wanted to bring any resolution against him, it should behave in accordance with the norms of the council. “We are not afraid of such tactics,” he said.

He added that there was no need of bringing a resolution against Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra, as he claimed that Vohra had announced his resignation.

“If Vohra does not honour his words, the City Council will decide his fate”, Waseem remarked.

“Vohra is like a brother to me; we have no differences and his decision to change his allegiance was of his own. Such happenings are common in politics,” Waseem remarked.

Referring to the disorder in the session, he said that according the parliamentary process the agenda should have been allowed to complete but that did not happen.

“Our progress and work should be gauged from the period when we got rights to work according to the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013, and article 140 of the constitution, but at present we do not have such powers,” Waseem lamented.

He added, “The Sindh government has detained the administrative and financial controlling powers of the civic entity. I was given no right to execute development projects worth over Rs 20 million.”

He went on to say that the financial and administrative powers of other civic entities wee under the control of the Sindh government. “We are not answerable about the progress of these departments,” he said.

“Due to lack of officials at the KMC, the entity is working under tight conditions. We are striving to purge the departments of corrupt officials. Cases and inquiries are being carried out against such officials,” he concluded.

Published in Daily Times, November 1st 2017.

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