Brigadier A.S. Nasir (Retd), a former Chief of Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) and ex-chairman Governor's Inspection Team, said that City District Government Karachi (CDGK) is subordinate to provincial government and not an independent organisation.
They should learn to take instructions from provincial government on matters like KBCA, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB) and many other matters instead of entering into a confrontation. He commented when approached to have his views on CDGK's ongoing controversy with the provincial government.
The controversy - whether or not KBCA and KWSB being part of CDGK or provincial government - needed to be resolved amicably, the former KBCA chief emphasised. He noted that huge number of employments given in the KW&SB, as per press reports, were alarming.
He said that since he had seen the functions of KW&SB from a distance was not competent to comment. However, he added, he was strongly of the view that KW&SB functions should be segregated into water supply and sewerage.
He felt that water supply should receive higher priority and sewerage relegated to lower side and that was why the entire effort of KW&SB was focussed on water procurement, management and adequate supply while focus on solid waste management reduced at the cost of civic rights of public.
As such, Brigadier Nasir suggested that KW&SB should be broken into two independent departments of water and sewerage. If done and implemented, storm water drains and sewerage system would effectively drain off filth and sludge, he added.
Water Board, therefore, should then be, by this logic, become part of the provincial government and sewerage placed under CDGK. Referring to KBCA, the former chief pointed out that as Chairman of Inspection team, he saw KBCA's sufferings with lot of melodies for four years.
He said that concurrent with his nomination as Chief Controller, the introduction of Sindh Local Government Ordinance 2001 came into immediate conflict with Sindh Building Control Ordinance 1979. SBCO-1979, he said, was a statute that governed the functions of KBCA, and pointed out that SBCO-1979, by its nature, could not wean KBCA from provincial control.
He said that to sort out anomalies for which he was posted as KBCA chief, the Government of Sindh gave him full powers as KBCA Chief Executive to handle its internal and external friction.
He said that advent of CDGK under Naimatullah khan did not appreciate his stance and he was asked to surrender his rights just because SLGO-2001 had been published. Brigadier Nasir said his point of view was that since KBCA was functioning under SBCO-1979, he drew all his strength from provincial government.
He said he did not accept to give it up until pressure was brought on him from the then Chief Secretary and Secretary Local Government. He pointed out that since LG system was the brainchild of the President and he had desired that SLGO-2001 should be implemented in letter and spirit and since Nazim was in direct communication with him, he had to surrender.
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