KARACHI: The Sindh administration of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has agreed to change the disputed local government law in accordance with the agreement negotiated with the Jamaat-e-Islami the day before.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has called a meeting of the provincial cabinet on February 2, according to report. In addition, the government has decided to postpone local government elections until July.
The cabinet will determine at its meeting whether to approve to the JI component of the measure, which would expand the powers of the city mayor. The cabinet will approve the mayor’s appointment as chairperson of the Karachi Water Board, as well as the return of responsibility of the health and education departments to the mayor’s office.
In addition, the province government will surrender management of the octroi tax to local corporations. The cabinet will also decide if the local government bill should be reintroduced in the Sindh Assembly.
Bundal and Buddu Islands, whose ownership will be transferred to the forest department, are also on the agenda. It should be mentioned that the forest department secretary had obtained an order on the islands from the Sindh government.
The acquisition of new vehicles for the health departments is also expected to be approved by the Sindh cabinet. The purchase of pistols for the Sindh Police from Turkey, as well as the procurement of wheat, would be on the agenda.
After the PPP-led government agreed to revise the disputed local government act, the JI agreed to halt its 29-day sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly on Friday.
After PPP leader Syed Nasir Hussain and senior party leaders visited the JI protest camp, the government and the JI reached an agreement.
All departments of the education and health sectors, including hospitals and dispensaries, will be given back to the Karachi Municipal Corporation, according to the agreement read out in front of the demonstrators by Shah (KMC)
Nasir of the PPP claimed that the government and the JI had met multiple times to discuss revisions to the Sindh Local Government Act 2021 to make the law better for the province’s citizens.
