Sindh govt to review LG law

KARACHI:

Opposition suggestions over the Sindh Local Government Act (SLGA), which were agreed to by Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Shah, will be implemented in true letter and spirit. This was assured by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah as he chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"We will incorporate the suggestions of the opposition including Jamaat-e-Islami, Pak Sarzameen Party and other parties as has been agreed by Syed Nasir Shah in his talks with them," he said.

The chief minister formed a committee under LG Minister Syed Nasir Shah, Labour Minister Saeed Ghani, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Chawla, Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro and Law Adviser Murtaza Wahab to discuss the proposals of the opposition parties.

These will be incorporated into the law and presented in the assembly for approval. The cabinet meeting was attended by all the provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants, chief secretary Mumtaz Shah, PSCM Fayaz Jatoi, P&D Chairman Hassan Naqvi and other concerned officers.

Wheat

The provincial cabinet approved a procurement target of 1.4 MT of wheat at a support price of Rs2,200 per 40 kg bag for which Rs70 billion were approved. The food department was allowed to purchase bardana to the extent of the assigned target at the ratio of 90 percent PP bags and 10 per cent jute bags if available in the market.

The chief minister directed the food department to set up procurement centers in the last week of February so that the process could start from March 1. "We are offering a better support price; therefore, its benefit must pass on to the growers," he said.

Islands declared as
protected forests

The cabinet, after thorough discussion and deliberations, declared Bundal and Buddo Islands as protected forests. It directed the Forest department to notify the decision.

Compensation

The cabinet approved an amount of over Rs915 million to provide compensation for shopkeepers of Cooperative Market and Victoria Centre as their places of business were reduced to ashes in a fire that erupted on November 14, 2021.

The cabinet expressed solidarity with the shopkeepers and said that with the payment of compensation, they would be able to start their business afresh. It was proposed that the industries department talk to the shopkeepers to convince them to insure their shops as fires have been occurring in markets with alarming regularity.

Lands

The cabinet observed that Pakistan Steel Mills were planning to dispose of extra land. It said that the Steel Mills authorities were not competent to dispose of such property. "The land, which they would surrender as extra, will automatically stand reverted to the Sindh government."

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The cabinet directed the revenue department to issue instructions to the sub-registrar not to register any land disposed of/sold by Pakistan steel Mills.

KPT Society

The cabinet also directed the chief secretary to implement the decisions of the Supreme Court in respect to KPT Housing Society. The cabinet also directed SMBR to protect the lands of the Malir Expressway so that no encroacher would dare to grab them.

Recruitment in jail dept

The home department told the cabinet that 2,113 posts of Grade BS-5 to BS-15, including 1,355 constables, were vacant in prisons. Due to shortage of staff, prisons were facing serious problems. It was pointed out that the provincial cabinet, in its meeting held on November 21, 2019, had approved IBA Sukkur as the testing agency for recruitment. However, the facility has demonstrated its inability to conduct body measurement and running tests, the cabinet noted.

The cabinet directed the home department to hire services of any other testing service through a competitive bidding process on the pattern conducted by the Sindh police.

Institute given on Public-Private Partnership mode

The cabinet was told that the government has constructed the Govt Polytechnic Institute at Azam Basti in 2017 and now the institute was at the launching stage. Around Rs200 million were required, apart from recruitment of teaching staff.

The cabinet approved a proposal to hand over the institute to SZABIST to operate it on a public-private partnership mode so that best technical education could be imparted to the students.

Transmission line

The energy department told the meeting that the Matiari-Lahore High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Transmission Line Project, having a designed capacity of 4000MW and line length of 878km, was one of the most important initiatives in Pakistan and was on the priority list of CPEC Projects. The project was started on December 1, 2018, and the commercial operations date (COD) was achieved on September 1, 2021, with a project cost of $1.6 billion.

A portion of the transmission line is passing through the territory of Sindh, therefore, the cabinet approved giving it right of way.

The cabinet also approved a request of the home department to provide an ambulance to the Frontier Constabulary (FC).

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2022.