District government audit: City administrator powerless next to land mafia

Muhammad Syed tires of writing letters to authorities against influential people, who won't evacuate amenity plots.

KARACHI:

Muhammad Hussain Syed is fed up of writing letters to law enforcement authorities against influential people, who are not willing to evacuate amenity plots.

“I alone cannot force these people out. I need support but no one is willing to help me,” the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) administrator said at the PAC meeting on Wednesday. The financial watchdog members discussed the audit of KMC for the year 2010-11.

The issue was highlighted at the meeting as audit director for local governments Muhammad Ali Shah pinpointed many irregularities in the accounts of the now defunct City District Government Karachi.

The city government auctioned off around 42 plots at a cost of Rs107 million but has only recovered Rs68 million, Shah said. The CDGK auctioned another land in Orangi Town worth Rs13.4 million in 2010-11 but has failed to recover Rs10 million.

The Karachi administrator responded, however, that most of the plots have been taken over by the land mafia and it was impossible to recover the amount now.  The director audit pointed out various other financial irregularities in the affairs of the city administration, including awarding contracts at the Karachi zoo without bank securities, special performance-incentive bonuses to 58 employees, unauthorised purchase of vehicles, and ghost employees.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2013.