Karachi Jamaat-e-islami (JI) chief Monem Zafar has demanded the abolition of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) saying that the institution has failed to deliver over the past 12 years and has become a symbol of incompetence and corruption.
Addressing JI town and union committee chairmen, and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) City Council members at the Idara Noor-i-Haq, he said Karachi had been turned into a heap of garbage due to what he described as the provincial government’s flawed decision to centralise the city’s sanitation system in 2014.
He said the sanitation mechanism previously operating under the KMC, towns and union committees was taken over by the provincial government, but the move had yielded ‘zero performance’.
“Even after 12 years, Karachi remains buried under garbage and its residents continue to suffer because of this anti-Karachi decision,” he said.
Zafar criticised the city mayor, who also serves as the SSWMB chairman, saying that the board’s annual budget of Rs43 billion was being wasted due to mismanagement and corruption.
He demanded that the board be dissolved and its powers transferred to the town and union committee level. He also called for fresh garbage collection contracts to be signed with town administrations and said contractor payments should be subject to verification by town chairmen.
The JI leader further demanded a forensic audit covering the board’s 12-year performance, as well as details of billions of rupees collected under the municipal utility charges and taxes (MUCT) meant for the KMC.
He said the PPP government, which had ruled Sindh for nearly 18 years, had deprived Karachi of its institutions, resources and basic civic services.
“The city’s infrastructure has collapsed, while citizens continue to face serious problems relating to water, transport, roads and sanitation,” he said.
Referring to the Article 140-A of the Constitution, Zafar said the provincial government was unwilling to devolve powers and resources to elected local bodies.
He reiterated the JI’s stance that Karachi’s issues could only be resolved through an empowered city government with administrative and financial control over all civic institutions.
KMC City Council Leader of the Opposition Saifuddin Advocate said town representatives had recently met SSWMB officials and conveyed concerns over poor waste collection and sanitation arrangements in various localities.
He warned that if the situation did not improve immediately, the JI would launch a protest movement.
