‘Sindh finance commission to be formed in few weeks’

Announcement comes a year after Sindh Assembly passed resolution for one

KARACHI: As the local councils' complaints of monetary constraints keep accruing, chief secretary Muhammad Siddique Memon has said that the provincial financial commission is going to start functioning in a few weeks.

"The commission will be constituted in 15 to 20 days, after which it will distribute financial resources among the local councils," said Memon while speaking to the media at Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) in Hyderabad on Sunday.

The announcement came almost a year after the Sindh Assembly passed a resolution demanding the constitution of a provincial finance commission in October, 2015. However, the government kept delaying the formation until election of the mayors and chairpersons of the local councils. "The commission will distribute funds on the basis of population, backwardness and revenue generation of a local council," he said. According to him, health, education and local government are the top three priorities of the Sindh government.

Addressing complains against highway

Meanwhile, with complaints against the way the M-9 Motorway is being built between Karachi and Hyderabad mounting, the chief secretary said that he will take up the matter in an upcoming meeting with the National Highway Authority (NHA).

Accidents on the highway have increased due to the construction and diversions, he acknowledged, adding that he is scheduled to meet the NHA chairperson on October 2.

A study to identify locations for building trauma centres on highways in Sindh has been initiated, he said, announcing a Rs100 million grant for LUH, with an assurance of providing Rs50 million more if required.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2016.