The autonomous status of the defunct Karachi Development Authority (KDA) was not restored despite assurances given by the Sindh government to the authority's employees via a notification four months ago, sources told Business Recorder on Saturday. The administrative control of defunct KDA was temporarily given to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) for three months, after which it had to function in accordance with the KDA Repeal Order of 1957 and its Rules and Regulations.
KDA employees' representative body is again learnt to have written a letter to President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, calling for the appointment of an 'administration head' or 'chief transaction officer' for the authority's affairs as a stop-gap arrangement to regulate KDA's administrative matters.
A letter sent by the KDA Mazdoor Union CBA stated that the Notification No SO (L&C) HTP/MISC/8-149/201 1, Dated December 9, 2011, under which the authority "shall function in accordance with rules and regulations specified in 'Annex A'". It regretted that "no administrative setup has so far been arranged after the expiry of the Four (04) months which is itself question mark for high-ups of the government of Sindh".
The letter added that KDA employees were facing great difficulties in administrative matters. Criticising the attitude of KMC officers, the letter said: "Previously repeated requests were made to the Hon'able Prime Minister of Pakistan and high-ups of the Government of Sindh, but nothing have been heard so far." The letter said that the matter was still pending in the Sindh High Court as it had for the past two years. "A decision (in this regard) is still awaited."
The employees requested the President to organise KDA's administrative set up in accordance with the notification issued by the Sindh government on December 9, 2011. KDA Mazdoor Union's President Abdul Mateen and General Secretary Ashfaque Chisti said that the union had been struggling for the rights suppressed by the KMC, and it was working for restoring KDA as an autonomous civic body.
Employees of the defunct KDA, he said, which had a staff strength of about 6,700, was at the mercy of the KMC Administrator and Director HRM. Sources in KDA told Business Recorder that it has been reported that mostly newly appointed/promoted staff of KMC was being posted/adjusted against posts meant for KDA staff in violation of rules and regulations.
"This is not only a financial burden on KDA but also an injustice," they added. KDA's CBA had also filed a petition in the Sindh High Court, requesting it to post all KMC staff deputed in the defunct KDA back to their relevant offices. Chisti said that the CBA had asked Administrator, Karachi, Mohammad Hussain Syed to restore KDA's Secretariat Department under the supervision of the Municipal Commissioner so that problems faced by employees of the authority could be resolved internally.
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