Absent from work: Durrani suspends water board MD

Deputy managing director replaces MD Sajjad Abbasi.

KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Local Bodies Agha Siraj Durrani has suspended Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) managing director Sajjad Abbasi for his frequent absence from work, alleged negligence and his failure to address the growing complaints of people.

KWSB deputy managing director Ali Muhammad Palijo has been given additional responsibilities of managing director, officials said.

The minister, on Friday, paid a surprise visit to the utility’s office on Karsaz Road and found the managing director missing. He tried to contact him via telephone but he could not be reached. He told other officers at the office that he has received many complaints about Abbasi. He immediately issued notices for the suspension and the appointment of Abbasi and Palijo, respectively.

Cases of corruption and unlawful behaviour were reported during Abbasi’s tenure but the authorities failed to take any action, officials reveal. The utility also fell into an administrative crisis during his tenure.

On March 10, Sajjad Hussain Abbasi, a grade-19 officer, was appointed the managing director in place of Qutubuddin Shaikh, who was transferred and directed to report to the Sindh local government department.

Abbasi had earlier served the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) as an executive district officer (revenue). Qutubuddin Shaikh, who held the post for about a year, had succeeded Fazalur Rehman, the incumbent CDGK administrator.

This is not the first time the water board’s post of managing director has run into trouble. In 2008, a veritable war erupted between the then city nazim Mustafa Kamal and local government minister Agha Siraj Durrani over jurisdiction. The Sindh government removed Kamal as the MD and replaced him with Durrani. The issue went to the heart of the local government ordinance.

In 2007, the KWSB got its first non-army MD after 12 years. The local government additional chief secretary Ghulam Arif replaced Brigadier Iftikhar Haider. He became the twelfth person to head the water board. Haider was appointed the eleventh KWSB MD in 2004 for the duration of three years.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2010.