Interim arrangement: KMC to manage KDA’s administrative affairs

The body is not entirely independent yet, needs top management.

KARACHI:

The Sindh government has in principle decided to revive the defunct Karachi Development Authority (KDA) but for the time being its administrative control has been handed over to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).

A notification issued on Saturday said that notwithstanding its administrative control by the KMC, the KDA would continue to work according to its own rules and regulations. “This means KDA will maintain its own finance and payroll departments and KMC has been put in charge of the administrative matters only for the interim period,” a senior official explained.   KDA was merged with the city district government when General Pervez Musharraf introduced the 2001 local government system. However, other similar entities such as the Malir Development Authority, Lyari Development Authority and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board were allowed to retain their independent status.

The notification also said that this interim arrangement will continue till a statute of the KDA is prepared and notified, restoring it to an independent body.

The fate of more than 6,000 KDA employees thus hangs in the balance as the government has yet to appoint its top management, officials say. KDA was responsible for developing housing colonies on state land. But since 2001 it has been dormant.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2011.