‘Coordinators’ hijack Wasa to reward loyal voters

LAHORE: The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) is not dealing with the citizens’ complaints unless coordinators appointed by the PML-N legislators approve of the intervention, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Wasa officials said that in some of the neighbourhoods the agency had placed its mobile extraction pumps at the disposal of the coordinators who were ignoring the areas that did not have a PML-N vote bank.

A senior official in the City District Government of Lahore (CDGL), speaking on condition of anonymity, said that most PML-N MNAs and MPAs had directed their coordinators to monitor the development works in their constituencies. “They have directions to deal with the grievances of ‘the supporters’ and to ignore the areas having a dominant PPP, JI or PTI vote bank.

He said that the Wasa officials had strict instructions by the provincial government to cooperate with these coordinators. He stated that the Wasa authorities had barred the sub divisional officers (SDOs) from dealing with citizens themselves. “They have been instructed instead to communicate with the citizens through the coordinators,” he said.

Asif Hussain, an Allama Iqbal Town resident, told The Express Tribune that the drain in front of his house had been choked for six days.

He said that he had filed complaints with the Wasa time and again but no one had turned up. “Instead, they suggested that I consult my area’s coordinator,” he said.

He said that finally he approached Shahzad Husssain, the coordinator, and got the drain unclogged. He added that many drains in Allama Iqbal Town and Rehmanpura areas had been clogged after the recent rains. He said the Wasa officials and their mobile extraction vehicles had not showed up anywhere on their own.

Adeel, a resident of the Shahdin Scheme in Ichhra, told The Express Tribune that the sewers in his street had been clogged from five days.

He said he had complained to the SDO, Syed Abid Raza, who had asked him to consult Saqib, the coordinator nominated by the MPA. Adeel said that he had told the SDO that his family had always supported the PPP and that the coordinator might not listen to him, “but he refused to address my complaint reiterating that I should get him Saqib’s approval before he could entertain my request.”

Talking to The Express Tribune, Syed Abid Raza said that the coordinators were solving the citizens’ complaints in an efficient and timely manner. He admitted that he had frequently sent the Wasa staff along with the mobile extraction pumps to drain rain water under Saqib’s supervision.

Sumaira Hameed, a Gulshan Ravi resident, said that when she lodged a complaint at Wasa’s helpline, he was told that his complaint could not be registered because he had not deposited his bills for six months. He said that he told the operator that he had paid his last bill on June 6, 2010. She admitted that their database may not have been updated but still insisted that they were strictly prohibited from registering complaints from ‘defaulters’. He said he had been forced to pay an exorbitant amount to private operators to drain the water.

When asked about the coordinators’ use of Wasa’s facilities, Javed Iqbal, the Wasa managing director, rejected the reports as baseless allegations. He said that the agency was committed to addressing every citizen’s complaint without any discrimination on the basis of their political affiliations.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2010.