Local governments urged to go for more financial transparency

"District governments must reveal detailed information to masses, especially regarding financial matters, in order to ensure a transparent administration, so that the fruits of devolution might reach masses".
Senior member National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) Muhammad Naeemul Haq said this at a 'Media Workshop on Local Government System' here on Tuesday. He urged upon local governments to make detail tenders, budgets and other financial public through press. He urged that the present local government system was meant to change the earlier colonial and feudal ways of governance. He said that the good governance required that facts and figure should not be hidden from the masses.
He urged that the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) must device a 'City Policing Plan', to manage police in the city in accordance to Police Order 2002. He added that the traffic engineering was the responsibility of district governments and not traffic police according to the Local Government Ordinance LGO 2001.
He mentioned that the issue of Cantonment Boards in Karachi would be resolved to some extent in future, as these boards would hold their elections and start working in collaboration with the district governments as municipality bodies. Regarding bureaucracy in the local government system, he said that bureaucracy was not a bad thing provided its objective was the welfare of public. He said that so far after six years of the local government systems, the overall outcome was encouraging.
Muhammad Naeemul Haq mentioned that training of Nazims would be conducted in Lahore from 20th July 2007 in the National School of Public Policy.
Muqtada Mansoor, Editorial Coordinator of Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) briefed moot about the difficulties faced by journalists during access to information, especially in rural areas.
He also mentioned commercial interests of media; which restrained journalists from objectivity, threats from pressure groups and non-professional approach towards investigative reporting by media organisations in Pakistan.
Muqtaba Mansoor said that majority of financial matters of the district governments was not revealed to press, which ultimately harmed accountability, and check and balance. He mentioned that women and labour councillors had been discriminated from discussing other issues, but those related to women labour problems. He urged that the access to information must be ensured at all levels.