KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday said the provincial government has agreed to bring more amendments to the local government (LG) law, saying the bill was passed in a “hurry”.
Addressing a press conference along with JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman at the JI Karachi headquarters Idara Noor-e-Haq, he said the Sindh Minister for Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah has talked to the political parties for amendments in the Local Government Act 2013 and has contacted revelant stakeholders.
CM Sindh that the government had requested to summon a joint session of parliament on Nov 17 in which their stance and reservations over the population census were rejected.
“We introduced Sindh LG law after holding consultations. Sindh is the first province in which the law was passed by the provincial assembly. I had also announced in the provincial assembly that the government is ready to make amendments,” he exclaimed.
“We were bound to forward the law to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) before November 3. “I had moved to the election commission to seek time after Sindh governor returned the LG law. We also accepted the governor’s recommendations.”
The chief minister said that the Sindh government and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have formulated a democratic and political solution to the issue. CM Sindh said that JI demanded returing health and educational institutions to the local government, adding that the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) needs the provincial government’s support.
He said that a team has been constituted under the supervision of Nasir Hussain Shah to finalise amendments within two weeks. He said the provincial government will summon a session of the Sindh Assembly to approve the recommended amendments.
Hafiz Naeemur Rehman said that JI held a sit-in to restore powers of LG institutions while their demand for restoring powers of receiving motor vehicle tax to the mayor was also accepted. “We have insisted on increasing the number of union committees. It has been decided to provide resources to the union committees in accordance with their population,” he said, adding that they will continue fighting for the rights of Karachi through protests and talks.
Hr criticised the federal government over reducing the K-IV water project capacity from 650 million gallons to 260 million gallons. He said that the provincial government should come forward to resolve Karachi issues if the Centre was ignoring the metropolis. He urged the resolution of the water scarcity issue in Karachi as a top priority and expressed hopes that the provincial government will make decisions as per the recommendations.
Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah blamed the federal government for stopping the development work of the K-IV project. He vowed that the provincial government will get its due share from the Centre.
On January 28, the JI announced to call off the sit-in after almost a month in Karachi as the negotiations with the Sindh government bore fruit in connection with the law governing the Local Governments.
