Amid confusion, decision to appoint administrators revoked

People are still unsure whethe­r the town system has been revive­d.

KARACHI:

Once again, confusion prevailed among Sindh government departments on Thursday regarding the status of the new local government system. The latest puzzle is the appointment of town adminstrators in Karachi when it is not yet certain whether the town system has been revived under the new system.

The local government department ordered the appointment of administrators in Karachi a couple of days ago even though the metropolitan corporations and town systems have not been revived yet. “The chief minister has ordered an inquiry into why people were appointed when the new system has not been approved yet. He has also asked the local government minister and chief secretary to revoke the decision,” said an official who wished to remain anonymous.

Though Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan promulgated the Sindh People Local Government Ordinance 2012 (SPLGO) on September 7, the chief minister has yet to issue a formal notification.

On September 19, Nadir Wasan was appointed Gadap Town’s administrator, Rahamatullah Shaikh for Saddar, Masroor Memon for Bin Qasim, Naseem Afandi for Gulshan-e-Iqbal, and Muhammad Raes for Lyari.

Initially, the local government minister appointed the administrators verbally and the notification was issued later. “This is not the first time that this has happened,” he said.

People are confused - is the 1979 local government system operational or is the new, system in place? But as far as the town system goes, officials are of the view that it is still defunct. Musharraf introduced the system back in 2001 with 119 Town Municipal Administration in Sindh, out of which 18 were in Karachi.

Sindh did away with Musharraf’s system and restored the 1979 system in 2011.

“Five districts and their municipal corporations under the old 1979 system will persist until the government decides otherwise,” said the former secretary of local government, Ali Ahmed Lund. The provincial government had issued a notification on the new ordinance, but five metropolitan corporations including Karachi Metropolitan Corporations have yet to be revived.

Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani said that there was nothing wrong with appointing the administrators because the new law is in place.

“The government has not yet issued a notification to repeal the 1979 system and put the SPLGO in place. The summary has been moved to chief minister and the notification will be issued once he approves it.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2012.