KDA DG replaced after bureaucratic shuffle

Samiuddin Siddiqui has been asked to report to the Services and General Administration Department

KARACHI: The Sindh government has removed the director-general of the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), Samiuddin Siddiqui, replacing him with Syed Mansoor Abbas Rizvi. According to a notification released by the Sindh government, Siddiqui has been asked to report to the Services and General Administration department.

According to a source in the local government department, Siddiqui had long been engaged in a cold war with the Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani. The two had been in discord over the issue of transfers and appointments in the KDA. The provincial government had appointed Asif Memon as the director of the land department, at which Sami Siddiqui was disgruntled, said the source, adding that Siddiqui had also objected to the appointment of Tauseef Soomro as the secretary and finance director.

However, Ghani has been appointing officers in KDA, said the source, adding that the LG minister had repeatedly warned the former DG to show up to work on time, but he was not complying. Meanwhile, the Sindh government's notification also announced the posting of Syed Farrukh Habib as the provincial Ombudsman. Riaz Hussain Soomro has been posted as the Rehabilitation secretary, while Syed Hussain Naqvi was posted as the public health engineering secretary. Jamal Mustafa Syed has been given the additional charge of the irrigation department, Dr Muhammad Usman Chachar was given the charge of Ombudsman's secretary and Wildlife secretary Lubna Salahuddin was given the charge of human rights. Haroon Ahmed was given the charge of the food department secretary, while Shafiq Ahmed Mahesar was posted as the Sindh Technical Education secretary.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2019.