KMC renovates old city council hall
City council will house around 309 members elected in recent LG elections
Workers have been deployed at KMC’s old council hall to prepare it for its new council members elected in the recent LG elections. PHOTO: AYSHA SALEEM/EXPRESS
KARACHI:
The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), instead of constructing a new building for the city council as promised last year, is now renovating the old city council hall, day in, day out, to accommodate around 209 members after the local government (LG) elections on December 5.
The 83-year-old yellow, sandstone KMC building, which stands regally on MA Jinnah Road, has all of a sudden become a centre of attraction after the LG polls, as the newly elected city council is going to run the city's affairs from there.
Until 2010, the Karachi's city government used to work from the old edifice. Today, most of the city's affairs are run from Civic Centre as Karachi is run by a sole administrator and not an elected council.
The number of union committees has gone up in Karachi from 168 in 2001 to 209 due to fresh delimitation. Each union committee has four councillors, one chairman and one vice-chairman. The chairmen of these union committees will constitute the city council, in which women get a 33 per cent reserved quota, and labourers, minorities and youth, five per cent each. KMC council director Ghufran Ahmed told The Express Tribune that they were working on every inch to make space for the seats in the city council hall. "It is our heritage," he said, adding that they could not change the structure of the building.
The building, according to Ahmed, was inaugurated in the year, 1933, and the council room was of that era. "There were 58 members then," he said, adding that the council was 'blessed' as every time when a new council was made, the seating capacity had to be enhanced. "Last time the council was renovated in the year, 2001, when we managed space for 255 elected representatives," he said. However, he was not sure if the council would be as fancy as the Sindh Assembly. "We will arrange comfortable sofas for the members but they will have to be adjusted in a congested space," he said.
On the 2013 Act for the city council, he said that the mayor will be the presiding officer of the council. "The mayor will have to perform the duty of a speaker," he said, adding that in the absence of a mayor, a deputy mayor will perform his duties and that was why the mayor will sit in the centre on a big chair in front of all the elected representatives.
He was unsure when the first session of the newly elected local government will kick off, but said that it will most probably be held once the election for reserved seats and the by-election on union committees are held. "That may take a month or little more," he said.
On a question regarding the traffic jam just outside the KMC building, he recalled that the same council he has seen representatives coming on rickshaws, motorcycles and public transport. He said that the previous council used to function in the same circumstances.
No funds
When the KMC technical director-general Niaz Soomro was asked about the fate of the new city council building that was supposed to be built, he said that they never received funds for the purpose. "The newly elected city council can construct a new building of their choice if they want," he said.
He was unsure about the total cost of the renovation, as according to him, it was still to be calculated. On a question regarding the space in the gallery for the media, he said that they could never enhance that. "It is our heritage and we cannot afford to destroy it," he said, adding that the journalists will have to adjust themselves.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2015.
The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), instead of constructing a new building for the city council as promised last year, is now renovating the old city council hall, day in, day out, to accommodate around 209 members after the local government (LG) elections on December 5.
The 83-year-old yellow, sandstone KMC building, which stands regally on MA Jinnah Road, has all of a sudden become a centre of attraction after the LG polls, as the newly elected city council is going to run the city's affairs from there.
Until 2010, the Karachi's city government used to work from the old edifice. Today, most of the city's affairs are run from Civic Centre as Karachi is run by a sole administrator and not an elected council.
The number of union committees has gone up in Karachi from 168 in 2001 to 209 due to fresh delimitation. Each union committee has four councillors, one chairman and one vice-chairman. The chairmen of these union committees will constitute the city council, in which women get a 33 per cent reserved quota, and labourers, minorities and youth, five per cent each. KMC council director Ghufran Ahmed told The Express Tribune that they were working on every inch to make space for the seats in the city council hall. "It is our heritage," he said, adding that they could not change the structure of the building.
The building, according to Ahmed, was inaugurated in the year, 1933, and the council room was of that era. "There were 58 members then," he said, adding that the council was 'blessed' as every time when a new council was made, the seating capacity had to be enhanced. "Last time the council was renovated in the year, 2001, when we managed space for 255 elected representatives," he said. However, he was not sure if the council would be as fancy as the Sindh Assembly. "We will arrange comfortable sofas for the members but they will have to be adjusted in a congested space," he said.
On the 2013 Act for the city council, he said that the mayor will be the presiding officer of the council. "The mayor will have to perform the duty of a speaker," he said, adding that in the absence of a mayor, a deputy mayor will perform his duties and that was why the mayor will sit in the centre on a big chair in front of all the elected representatives.
He was unsure when the first session of the newly elected local government will kick off, but said that it will most probably be held once the election for reserved seats and the by-election on union committees are held. "That may take a month or little more," he said.
On a question regarding the traffic jam just outside the KMC building, he recalled that the same council he has seen representatives coming on rickshaws, motorcycles and public transport. He said that the previous council used to function in the same circumstances.
No funds
When the KMC technical director-general Niaz Soomro was asked about the fate of the new city council building that was supposed to be built, he said that they never received funds for the purpose. "The newly elected city council can construct a new building of their choice if they want," he said.
He was unsure about the total cost of the renovation, as according to him, it was still to be calculated. On a question regarding the space in the gallery for the media, he said that they could never enhance that. "It is our heritage and we cannot afford to destroy it," he said, adding that the journalists will have to adjust themselves.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2015.