Half the skyscrapers in Karachi are illegal: Sindh LG minister

Opposition walks out over PPP's continued resistance

KARACHI: The Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani on Tuesday conceded that half of the high-rise buildings in Karachi were built illegally with the help of Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA). This disclosure was made by him in the Sindh Assembly session on Tuesday during a debate on private resolution moved by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) MPA Syed Abdul Rashid to ban high rise buildings in Lyari.

"Around 50% of the buildings in Karachi are against the rules and Sindh Building Control Authority is responsible for it.  People are living in these building and we can't demolish them," the minister said, assuring the House that the government will discourage this practice. Rashid withdrew his resolution after the minister's assurance.



Walkout

Earlier, the House witnessed an uproar when the joint opposition protested and staged a token walkout following the government's rejection of their resolution to include opposition members in the recently formed "Sindh Non-Muslim Welfare Committee". The House echoed with slogans against the government for violating the 18th Amendment and not devolving power to the grass roots level.

The pandemonium was witnessed in the House when opposition members, belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Muttahadia Qaumi Movement - Pakistan (MQM-P) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), stood up in support of their colleague, Nusrat Seher Abbasi, who moved the resolution on the issue.

"Recently, the government has formed a committee for the welfare of non-Muslims. Unfortunately, all members of the committee belong to ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its supporters. The irony is that PPP senators and MNAs have been included in this committee which is supposed to look after the issue at the provincial level. I want to ask why the government has not given representation to non-Muslim lawmakers from opposition benches in this committee," said Abbasi, while moving a private resolution. "This committee is against the rules and law. The minority issue is a provincial subject; we wonder why MNAs and senators who represent the parliament have been made members of this committee," she added

GDA MPA Nand Kumar Goklani termed the "Sindh Non-Muslim Welfare Committee," the "PPP welfare committee" and said, "PPP is behaving like dictators, but we can't accept it and will resist." According to Kumar, the opposition has been ignored and private secretaries of ministers and their personal workers have been made members of this committee. "We have never seen such a violation of rules where opposition members, especially from minority community, are ignored," he opined.

Mangla Sharma of MQM-P said, "No doubt, PPP has simple majority in the house, but that does not mean the opposition parties should be deprived of their due rights".

Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani said that it was the provincial government's prerogative to nominate members of the committee. "This is not like standing committee of Sindh Assembly where equal representation is given to opposition benches too. Let standing committees be formed and I assure you that opposition members would be accommodated in them," he said in an attempt to justify the nomination of PPP MNAs and senators for this committee. "The senator and MNAs belong to Sindh.

That is why we have made them members of this committee," he added and requested the opposition members to withdraw their resolution.

When the opposition refused, the speaker put the resolution in house which was rejected by majority votes of treasury benches. The opposition parties, in protest against the decision, staged a token walkout. All members left the house for a few minutes except for PTI MPA Dr Seema Zia who was waiting for her turn to move a resolution.



Right to education

As the opposition returned to the house, Dr Zia moved a private resolution asking the provincial government to implement the clauses stipulated in Sindh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2013. "Under this act, all private schools are supposed to give 10% of the total admission seats to poor students," she said adding, "The private schools are violating this law. We want action against those who ignore this act passed by the assembly in 2013."

Dr Zia, referring to law, said, "Education is compulsory for children from the age of five to 16, but this is not being done."

Almost all MPAs from treasury and opposition supported the resolution. However, Education Minister Sardar Shah pointed out that the private schools were also not complying with the court order to return the extra fees they have charged from parents.

"We have no power to seal these schools. But, we can cancel their registration," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2018.