Amended local government law termed a devise force

MQM-P, Hyderabad business community reject proposed legislation

HYDERABAD:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and a cross-section of the business community have rejected the Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2021, labeling it as a conspiracy against the urban areas and residents of Sindh.

The conference was hosted by the MQM-P at a banquet in Latifabad, Hyderabad, on Sunday. The MQM-P's MNA Sabir Hussain Qaimkhani read out the eight-point agenda at the onset of the event.

He stated that the purpose of the conference is to brief the traders and industrialists of Hyderabad about the black law which has been enacted by Pakistan Peoples Party's government.

"The MQM-P's position has been that any law pertaining to democracy should be amended in consultation with all the legislators," he underlined. He recalled that 2001 LG ordinance had truly transferred power to the grassroots. In comparison, he said, the PPP has been amending its own enacted law of 2013 to further rob the authority from the local government. He argued that not the MQM-P but the PPP is dividing Sindh but segregating the urban and rural parts of the province.

He deplored that billions of rupees in taxes are collected from Hyderabad but the elected councilors are not given development funds for the city. President of Hyderabad Chamber of Small Trade and Small Industry (HCSTSI) Altaf Memon said the November 26 amendment in the LG law has upset all the politically conscious people.

He urged the Sindh government to take all political and business community stakeholders on board while amending the said law. Hyderabad SITE Association of Trade and Industry Chairman Saaman Mal bemoaned that 300 industrial units were functioning in Hyderabad SITE area but poor infrastructure, encroachment and undue taxes continued to mar the business activities.

He claimed that only one provincial industries minister during the 13 years rule of the PPP in Sindh bothered to listen to their complaints and he also addressed some of the issues.

"The industrialists will support MQM-P over the controversial LG law," he announced, praising that party's MPA Nadeem Siddiqui for raising the voice of the business community in the assembly. Qasimabad Businessmen Forum's Chairman Rehmatullah Saand said the development works carried out in Qasimabad taluka during the tenure of MQM-P's Nazim of Hyderabad could not be matched by the PPP's Sindh governments development initiatives. "The people of Qasimabad still praise Kunwar Naveed Jamil [former Nazim] for the construction of streets which he had initiated while in the saddle," he said.

Saand advised MQM-P to keep the people of Qasimabad on board in its struggle against the authoritarian LG law. The representatives of several other associations of the traders also expressed their views and reiterated their opposition against the new LG law.