Broke towns can’t even clean up the city

KARACHI: The town municipal administrations (TMAs) of the city are facing a severe financial crisis following continuous deductions in the Octroi Zila Tax (OZT) funds by the Sindh government, adversely affecting the functioning and performance of the local system apparatus.

The gravity of the situation could be gauged from the fact that town administrations do not even have enough funds to launch pre-Eid cleanliness campaigns, as garbage mounds continue to pile up at roadsides and empty plots around the city. The crisis has particularly affected Landhi Town’s 1,500 employees, who received only half of their salaries before Eid, while other towns barely managed to pay their staff.

“Our salaries are already so low that they aren’t enough to make ends meet in these tough times of inflation. How can we celebrate Eid with half of our salaries? We won’t be able to buy new clothes and other items for our families,” complained a Landhi Town worker.

“Other towns are also facing a financial crunch, but their employees have been paid full salaries. What is our fault? Why have we been subjected to this injustice?”

The Landhi Town employees also alleged that the high-ups of the town administration have given tenders to their “preferred” contractors so that they can earn their “commission”.

Consequently, there was no money to pay full salaries to the employees. “Our town did not receive its proper share of OZT funds. We managed to pay half of the employees’ salaries using our own resources,” said Landhi Town Municipal Officer Nauman Arshad.

Deductions for nine months

According to sources, the Sindh government has been deducting OZT funds to town administrations for nine months. Town offices have become so broke that they are facing difficulties in payment of their utility bills. An example of how town administrations have been denied of their right share of funds is Orangi Town, which was paid only Rs30.7 million by the Sindh finance department against the actual amount of Rs50.2 million.

No uplift work

The financial crunch has brought development works at the town level to a halt. Work on schemes in Malir, Korangi, Shah Faisal, SITE, Gadap, Keamari, Jamshed, Gulberg and Gulshan-e-Iqbal and other towns has been stalled, while their administrations have been directed not to launch any new projects.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2010.