Committee formed to settle SITE-HMC tax collection row

The ongoing wrangle between Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate (SITE) Limited and Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) over collection of certain taxes from the former's jurisdiction will be settled by a committee representing all stakeholders.

A meeting between Deputy Commissioner Zainul Abedin Memon and a delegation of Hyderabad SITE Association of Trade and Industry (HSATI) reached this conclusion on Thursday, according to a statement of HSATI.

In a letter to SITE Limited on January 7, Municipal Commissioner of HMC Zahoor Ahmed Lakhan blamed the SITE officials for facilitating collection of illegal parking fees and for interfering in the anti-encroachment operations of the corporation. "It was observed that parking slips issued under the name of your office were facilitating illegal parking, causing inconvenience to the public and hindering the flow of traffic," Lakhan wrote.

He also referred to an anti-encroachment operation which was performed by the HMC but it faced resistance from the alleged encroachers as well as 'interference' by the SITE officials. "Such resistance disrupts lawful municipal operations," he underscored.

The MC also attached a slip of unauthorised parking fee collection by the SITE officials along with his letter. Lakhan asserted that under the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013, municipal functions within the jurisdiction of SITE Limited fall under the mandate of the HMC.

Removal of encroachment, maintenance of roads, waste management and other civic services are included in that mandate, he added. He said not a Union Committee Chairman has been elected from the SITE area in the HMC, the main roads like AutoBahn which pass through the SITE area, also fall in the HMC's jurisdiction and that road is currently being widened under LG project.

The correspondence in question was a reply to a letter written by the SITE Limited to the HMC on January 1 and earlier last year. In that letter the SITE official had complained that HMC's staff were collecting car parking fees, road vehicle charges, generator placement fee and informal taxes from carts and cabins in the SITE area. The staff was also blamed for supporting encroachers.