NAB summons officers of civic bodies over 'betterment levy'

Sindh govt's civic agencies fight over share in fee collected from builders to improve infrastructure

HYDERABAD:

As the wrangle among the Sindh government's civic agencies over sharing and utilisation of the betterment charges, collected from builders of commercial buildings lingers on, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has yet again summoned the concerned officers.

A team of NAB led by Additional Director Fayaz Hussain Abbasi will visit Hyderabad from July 9 to 11 during which the officers of the concerned departments will be grilled while the team will also visit their offices.

In this regard the bureau's Deputy Director Coordination Sanaullah wrote a letter on July 3 to Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA), Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC), Hyderabad Water and Sewerage Corporation (HWSC) and Qasimabad Municipal Corporation (QMC). The SBCA's Regional Director, Chief Municipal Commissioner of HMC, CEO of HWSC and Municipal Commissioner of QMC will have to appear before the inquiry team.

They have been directed to bring the entire record of collection, sharing and utilisation of the betterment charges starting from the year 2011. The letter warned that non-compliance will entail prosecution for affecting the investigation.

The civic agencies and Association of the Builders and Developers (ABAD) have been slogging it out for decades to prove that their respective contentions are right, especially with regard to the distribution of the charges. As per the old distribution formula, the SBCA used to collect the charges from the builders and developers so that they can be offered roads, drainage and water supply services against those charges.

The authority kept 25% and handed over 55% to HMC and 20% to the former Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), which has been renamed as HWSC. However, in 2021 the Sindh High Court on the recommendation of former Deputy Commissioner Hyderabad Fuad Ghaffar Soomro had ordered that a new formula should be notified under which HWSC could be given the largest share.

ABAD has also for decades thrown its weight behind the HWSC as being the rightful department to receive those funds because HMC's services do not cover water supply and drainage while the roads are often built under schemes of different government departments. The association argued that HWSC mostly failed to upgrade its water supply and drainage networks in the areas where new commercial buildings were being constructed because the corporation cited shortage of funds.

On the other hand, the required services did not fall in the domain of HMC and as such the builders maintained that their taxes were being put to waste. In compliance with the SHC Hyderabad Circuit Bench's order the provincial government on July 19, 2021, notified the new sharing formula.

Under it the SBCA was allowed to keep a meagre 10% against their services of collecting the charges from the builders. The authority was supposed to hand over 60% to HWSC and 30% to HMC. However, the new formula is still not being implemented.

As the tug of war continues, the residents of new apartment buildings and the traders operating their businesses in the shops of such buildings continue to suffer due to water scarcity and drainage woes. The residents of apartment buildings are often seen complaining about water shortage while living in a city which is surrounded by the Indus river and its three canals.