Monday, April 28, 2008

Confusion prevails in KBCA, KWSB

Monday, April 28, 2008
By Fasahat Mohiuddin

Karachi

The officials of the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) are in a state of confusion, not knowing whether they should obey the orders of City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal or those of the Sindh Minister for Local Government Aga Siraj Durrani.

On one hand, the minister claims that he is the chairman of the KBCA and KWSB after the Sindh government passed an order to that effect, while, on the other, under a notification issued by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), both the heads of the KBCA and KWSB are now Executive District Officers (EDOs) and report to the Nazim.

The newly-appointed Manzoor Qadir says that he is now the chief controller, KBCA, and has been elevated to this post by the Sindh government, replacing Rauf Akhtar Farooqi.

He said this while talking to The News on Sunday, adding that the KBCA was still working under the Sindh Building Control Ordinance (SBCO) 1979 and that he will perform all his duties under SBCO 79.

To another question, he said that “City Nazim Mustafa Kamal” had changed the name plate of ‘Controller’ and replaced it one reading ‘EDO.’

Qadir said that City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal was his boss as was Sindh Minister for Local Government Aga Siraj Durrani. Elaborating, he said that, being a government servant, he had to comply with the orders of both the minister as well as the city Nazim.

To another question whether Rauf Akhtar Farooqi, exñChief Controller, KBCA, had been removed on charges of corruption he said: “Not to my knowledge”.

Farooqi has been replaced with Qadir amidst a highly controversial situation that has spawned into a virtual conflict between Kamal and Durrani.

The city Nazim has already declared that head of the KBCA would be an EDO, while the minister maintains that the KBCA chief would remain a ‘controller.’

A similar situation has unfolded in the KWSB, as the KWSB chief is now, according to the city Nazim, not a ‘Managing Director,’ (MD) but an ‘EDO.’ However, according to the local body minister, the post is still ‘MD, KWSB.’

The conflict, though seemingly a matter of semantics, has legal and procedural repercussions. Durrani still maintains that he is chairman of KWSB and KBCA.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=109324

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