At the helm: Double MA bureaucrat made new DCO

Roshan Ali Shaikh specialises in urban development and will now control Karachi’s purse strings.

KARACHI:

An old hand at city management, Roshan Ali Shaikh, has been made Karachi’s new district coordination officer (DCO), putting him in charge of all its finances and postings.

On Friday, Shaikh replaced Muhammad Hussein Syed, who has been made City Administrator in Fazlur Rehman’s stead.

The new DCO’s appointment comes at a time when the city is being run by administrators as the local government system is on hold because of a political dispute over which version should be used.

Forty-three-year-old Shaikh had held key administrative posts. After he completed his CSS in 1991, he joined the district management group and his first posting was to Bahawalpur as the assistant commissioner. Shaikh completed his first MA in urban development followed by a second MA in economics.

When President Asif Ali Zardari visited a relief camp in Razzaqabad, Shaikh briefed him alone.

Shaikh has served as the administrator of the district municipal corporation in 1999 and was the deputy commissioner of Karachi West in 2000. He also served as ADM South.

In the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), he served as the executive district officer (EDO) for the finance and planning group of offices in 2005-2006. He was the project director for the Karachi mega city development project in 2006-08. Later on, he last served as the EDO of revenue from 2010-11.

During his tenure as the EDO revenue, he launched an extensive operation against land grabbers and cleared around 500 acres of illegally occupied land. He also demolished farm houses of high-profile and influential persons.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st,  2011.