KARACHI: Farida Salam, the first female Managing Director (MD) of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) is going to retire on June 19. After her retirement who will be the next MD? On this topic discussion has started among the senior officials.
According to details, Farida Salam, the current MD of KWSB, will retire on June 19 after completing her tenure. She was appointed to the post on March 25 by the Services General Administration and Coordination Department (SGACD) of the Sindh Government on the order of the Supreme Court (SC).
Assadullah Khan, the former MD of the Board was removed from the post on the order of the SC, after which he retired last month completing his job’s tenure. After the retirement of the current MD, Civil Engineer Ayub Sheikh will be the most senior officer while Zafar Palijo will be in the 2nd position. Ayub Sheikh is currently the Director of DMD Technical Services and Zafar Palijo is the Director of the 65 MGD Project.
There are speculations circulating among the officers as to who will be the MD of the board on June 20. Some officers believe that Ayub Sheikh will be appointed to the post, while some other officials also think that Ayub Sheikh can be appointed as per the order of the SC, however, Ayub Sheikh will not be able to continue on the post owing to a lack of good relations with others officers as well as with Sindh government.
Project Director KWSSIP Syed Salahuddin Ahmed and DMD Finance Rafiq Qureshi are also likely to get the potion of the head.
It should be noted that due to the ongoing project KWSSIP in collaboration with the World Bank, and due to the amendment in the board act, now it is mandatory that the board will be headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or a Managing Director (MD)
As per the rules, the vacancy for the post will be advertised in international and national level newspapers and experts both from the government and private sector will be able to apply for the post and be recruited.
Secretary of the Executive Board (EB) of the KWSB had advertised the vacancy as per the agreement reached with the World Bank and on which dozens of candidates including incumbent and retired officers have submitted their applications.
According to sources, the scrutiny process has been completed and candidates have been shortlisted by EB and they will be called for an interview soon. After interviews summary of the final name will be sent to Chief Minister Sindh and he will present it in his cabinet meeting for approval. Chief Secretary will issue notification of the appointment after the approval.
